The Legend of Miraculous
by Princess Zellie of Hyrule
Summary: The story that has been retold for countless generations is once again coming to the present. Follow us to see the miraculous tales and adventures of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf! (Collab fic with LegendofHearts on deviantART) Notice: The story will be updated here instead of on Johnny Spectre, due to personal issues. Thank you for understanding!
1. Athena and Sheikhan Wolf

**Chapter 1: Athena and Sheikhan Wolf**

 _The Miraculous Stones, objects of great power… forged from materials of unknown origin, but the effects granted live up to their name._

 _What keeps these artifacts in balance are three: the Miraculous Stones of Power, Wisdom and Courage. But, as with every legend, the balance is tipped towards one or the other…_

"With these stones, I can finally attain my wish!" A dark, foreboding voice boomed into the shadows of his domain, the only source of light seeming to be a sunroof from above.  
A red spirit sat beside him, cackling with a trail of ashes following him. "Indeed they can, my dear friend. As it is the least I can do for saving me from my prison." This creature was odd-looking, as it had the face of a pig, the tusks its wild cousin the boar and a build similar to a human-bear hybrid sans fur.  
The figure let out a short and blunt chuckle, "Such ambition for one so small, Boore, which is exactly what I need to bring my wish to life," the figure stepped towards the light enough to make out that the figure was tall with dark skin that had a twinge of sickly green to it, eyes burning like fire and hair of the same nature. On top of his head gleamed a gem of dark crimson red with the etchings of a wild boar placed over what appeared to be a grisly scar.  
"LET THE FIRES OF POWER BURN ALL THOSE WHO STAND IN MY WAY! LET US RECREATE THIS EARTH TO ITS TRUE GLORY!" The figure's form was surrounded by winged spherical creatures that then devolved into a fire-like appearance to give this man a new look. A trident skewered the floor as an armored hand grasped it as twirled it about. He was now donned in garb that would fit a barbarian noble, though a red, skin-tight mask now covered his face. The mask seemed to mimic the gemstone that still stayed present on his being, tusks near his mouth like scarring and the etching of wild boar eyes surrounding his own. His hair sprung out wildly into a fearsome mane that burned through the night, which was no longer such a peaceful time thanks to his manic cackling. "Boarova shall rule!"

"Snore-hooooot… snore-hooooot… snore-hoooSNNNNK!" a brownish-yellow, Fairy-like creature with long forelimbs tipped in feathers was rustled out of his slumber by a dreaded foreboding. Its golden eyes tight with worry as he floated out of a hollowed out trunk in a high garden.  
"Master!" It twittered, flying out to an elderly man in a reddish robe with stern eyebrows. "Master! We've got a problem!"  
The elderly man glanced at the creature. "Ho? What's wrong, Huut?"  
The small creature had a strong anxious air around it, "I sensed the Miraculous of Power, it has fallen into the hands of one with a dark heart!"  
The older one let out a melancholic hum of thought. "So the cycle still continues..."  
"We must find the other two! Surely they can still fight like you?" Huut pleaded, flapping his arms about. Were the feathers like a real bird's, some would have dislodged in the panic by now.  
"Huut, my dear friend," the master chided, "You know that I am too old to face these demons as you so claim, and you yourself relinquished your title years ago."  
"BAH!" the owl-like Fairy squaked. "Then we must contact my old apprentice and that _hooligan_ she was so fond of then. Bleddyn, ugh...who decided it was a good idea to give him the control over wind?"  
"Indeed. The pup has… an air about him in that regard, but that is beside the point."  
Huut gave his life-long companion a deadpan stare, "Leave the jokes to Bleddyn, Rauru. He at least had _that_ working for him."  
Rauru sighed as he stood, he was tall, and a tad stocky, other than that, his reddish orange/gold robes left much to the imagination…  
"Where have their charges gone to in these years? There's been so many, the details of each blend," Huut questioned as Raura stood.  
Rauru glanced out of the giant tower on the Labrynna Bay, "If I recall correctly, they may still be in Hyrule."  
Huut groaned as his memories collected. "Ugh, right. Malladus. By Farore that guy was a pain."  
Rauru only let out a small hum of thought that agreed to that statement, "The threats unfolding will be most grim…"

The soft chime of a phone's flute-like tune went off on the white smartphone atop the camo comforter… and has been for the past 15 minutes.  
"Link! You're going to be late for your first day!" A female voice chided in a way that wasn't harsh but urgent.  
In response to that a young male's voice let out a sleepy groan before reaching out from the cocoon of warmth that was his bedsheets, feeling around for the phone to finally shut off the wake up alarm and then shedding said sheets to get up. His appearance put him at 16 at the earliest, dirty blond hair sticking out about everywhere while his cornflower blue eyes were still a bit glazed over from sleep. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes he got up and dressed in a simple blue T-shirt, forest green hoodie jacket and semi-faded blue jeans before exiting his bedroom loft and into the kitchen. "Mornin' Mom," the teen yawned while taking a seat at the kitchen counter/table. He mentally thanks his mother for already setting out such things as milk, a bowl, a couple different cereals and a spoon already within reach.  
"Good morning dear." The mother in question held very little resemblance to her son due to him taking more after Germanic husband than her Japanese heritage; the only noticeable things that son and mother shared were stature and the ability to have their thick hair maintain some sort of hairstyle without much use of hair products. "Did you sleep well?" She asked after giving him a kiss on the side of his forehead.  
"Kinda, I had a weird dream," he answered while preparing his cereal, "First I was riding across the sea in this one-person boat that looked like a lion, but apparently once I hit land I became a wolf, but then I grabbed this really big pearl then I didn't have to worry about that anymore. Then there was a bunch of glowing lights following me around trying to tell me things. I don't really remember what they all said except that one really liked to alert me of monsters."  
"Sounds like a very fun video game," she chuckled, "Perhaps when you've completed college for graphics design, you could turn your dream into one?"  
Link let out a soft chuckle, "Maybe later. Right now I actually have to keep my grades up for that. How many more years left?" He asked with a soft groan.  
"Just a few more." She petted his head in comfort.  
"Then you have the REAL fun starting." came a cackle from the hallway. Rolling through the doorway on a wheelchair was someone who could pass as Link's brother in appearance, if it wasn't for a few wrinkles, the stubble, and a good chunk of his left leg missing.  
Link groaned. "Daaad, you're not helping!"  
"Good morning, Boris dear~!" She came over and hugged him around the shoulders, also giving a quick kiss.  
"Oh, my dear Yuki, my precious snow bunny~!" Boris nuzzled her cheek with his.  
Link groaned again, but this one in more amusement than annoyance like before. His parents had been together for longer than he's been alive yet they still acted like newlyweds. It gave him a mixed feeling of warmth and some gagging at the sappiness of it all. He grabbed his backpack and tried to slip out while his folks were having their moment.  
"Link!" Boris called, pulling away from his wife for a moment, "Remember, you said you'd work with Impa after school today."  
"Gotcha, dad!" he called back as he stepped out of the house with a smile. Impa was his dad's oldest friend, he thinks Impa was the one who set his parents up together (or he imagined that detail) when they were younger. She always kept an eye on him when his parents couldn't, and through her, he met the most beautiful girl he's ever known…

 _'Almost there, almost there…!'_ A female teen of at least 16 years was running towards a school building, her golden ponytail flying behind her as her sapphire blue eyes stayed focused on the end goal: the chance to go to a real school! Though such activities as rock climbing, archery and some horseback kept her busy physically and mentally (for the most part), they couldn't fill the emotional emptiness that came from a lack of friends. Well, friends who aren't apart of the more richer elite. She had known one girl since they could walk since their parents ran mutually beneficial companies, but too much of her was also a health hazard (as she has found out in more recent years).  
"Zelda Moira Callaghan, get back here!" called the voice of an older slender woman, white hair in a bun looking a bit frazzled as her crimson eyes kept a laser-focus on her charge. Goddesses, how she regretted the day Gustaf installed that rock-climbing wall in Zelda's bedroom, it proved just how swift she could be when she put her mind to it. "You are _not_ to attend public school and that is _final!_ "  
Zelda skidded just as she reached the middle of the stairway to the school, glad that she was dextrous enough to not go face-first into the concrete of them. "Why not? Simply because he worries I will make a 'mockery' of the family name?" She crossed her arms and stared at her custodian/father's secretary, "I know better than to do that."  
"This is merely your father's wish, Zelda. As his right hand and your caregiver, I must abide to what he says," Impa explained as she also stood with her arms crossed, though she gave off a much more defined air of power to her stance compared to the teen's. Behind her she was joined by the walking wall that is Byrne, his silent intimidation added to Impa's enough to release a sigh from Zelda's lips and to sulk over to them. They soon headed back to their not-quite-mansion to begin her homeschooling.  
 _'There's gotta be some way to get out of here...'_ She thought wistfully as the school started to leave her view. _'I just wish I knew how.'_

Meanwhile, back in Harkinian Academy, everything seemed pretty normal right down to the typical haughty girl, Cia, going on one of her usual 'Pay attention to my opinion because I think I'm better than you all' rants while long-suffering Lana was close behind trying not to show how much she wanted Cia to stop for the sake of her own health/reputation.  
Cia was part of high society, and she reveled in the prestige. Also being 'friends' with Zelda Callaghan didn't hurt either, but only half the class really believed her claims of such. Zelda always seemed so… uncomfortable in whatever selfies Cia had her in when showing them off. Hilda of course did her best to help her friend, but… well, Cia's reach was long and unnerving. Emphasis on unnerving. It seemed to become twice as bad if Link was present in the room, which speaking of guess who was getting his first hello from one of his classmates.  
"BROTHER!" Darunia bellowed as he pulled Link in a one-armed hug that had been known to take the wind out of many not used to it. He was something comparable to a sumo wrestler in terms of build, tanned - almost bronze - skin with dusty blond roots under earthy black hair.  
"Heya!" Link managed to choke out from the grasp before returning it with his gentler-by-comparison hug. He glanced over in Darunia's other arm to see his non-blood twin, wearing his signature violet bunny hood. "See you got Rav..."  
Ravio was the closest thing to a best friend Link had. Almost a brother really, given how both were only children. It kind of helped that they shared some of the same physical features, though by comparison, Ravio's raven locks and brilliant green eyes made it clear they weren't actually related.  
Said eyes were in spirals at the moment, no doubt from Darunia's happiness that both of his sworn brothers were in the same class.  
"Who else is in class this year?" Link managed to ask after finally getting released and also keeping Ravio steady on his feet.  
"Oh I'm so glad you asked, darling~."  
Link heard the horrifically, obviously faked bubbly voice and it put a great chill down his spine, _'Oh no, not this year too!'_ He thought as he turned his neck to look in the violet eyes of evil herself, complete with dark skin and a shallow bleached pixie cut. He really, really hoped that her too-deep-for-school V-neck would get her out early so that he wouldn't have to deal with this… as much as he hated how the dress code for girls is being policed to no ends in this day and age, he just wanted an excuse - ANY excuse - to not be in the room with Cia Ihejirika for even one class! Ravio and Darunia shared the sentiment, though kept it mental for their safety.  
"Oh… hello, talking rock and rodent," Cia grimaced at the Darunia and Ravio while they just glared back in response to the 'nicknames' she's given the two.  
"Come on Cia, not again," Link muttered as he stood in front of the two of them. Now he wouldn't be one to hit a girl, but he wasn't going to let Cia walk over his bros like that.  
"Alright, Alright. Settle down everyone." Came the voice of the teacher as he entered. Mister Horwell was an interesting person - kind, understanding (even with Cia somehow) and loved to speak of his pets. The strange this is, though, despite his brunet locks, he also held an eerie similarity to Mister Owlan despite the two confirming that they aren't related. People just chalked it up to them being like Link and Ravio, brothers _literally_ from other mothers, but couldn't help but be slightly erred by such…  
A quick glance around the room saw many familiar faces, Sitting near the back door of the classroom was Nabooru, she was nice enough, if a bit persistent when searching for something. The redhead looked like she was holding back a headache, and another boisterous yell made Link groan once more… "Oh man, not Groose again..."  
Across the room, he saw a burly man with similar bright red hair to Nabooru, styled in a ridiculous pointed pompadour that would remind one more of the comb on a rooster's head… just all in one direction, which is up and he was very proud of it.  
While Groose Darzi was a bully to Link and Ravio in their youth, he mellowed out a bit, but Link was still cautious around him; once bitten twice shy, after all. Uncomfortable with him, not as much as with Cia, but still.  
Next to Nabooru was a small boy with a hood on, no one could tell who he was at first glance, but the vibrant earthy colors of his patchwork coat made it obvious that Stalworth was in the class. He was painfully shy and usually carried two keychain figurines on his person, usually in his pockets or on his (very large) canvas bag.  
Below them sat a dark skinned girl dressed in a pale rose color, which contrasted with her vibrant light blue hair. Whether this was her natural color or not was very ambiguous. She wore sapphire earrings that curved around her ear and pointed out in three places, similar to frilled fins, that ended with little teardrops that were amethysts. She looked at Link and gave an eager smile with a finger wave. Link politely waved back. _'Seems Ruto hasn't changed...'_ She stopped suddenly and Link saw Cia glaring daggers and other pointy implements at her. Link used that to his advantage to slip away from the witch's grabby hands.  
Trying to get a seat, Link saw the diminutive girl Saria Vaughan standing on her desk to meet Groose at eye level. Saria was another close friend, and usually stood up to Groose's antics. Her bright green hair stood out and clashed with Groose's red a lot. Like right now with the two of them glaring into each other's eyes in a heated staring contest.  
Next to Groose was Shad, a studious type of guy wearing glasses. He was taking notes already, from what it looked like, as he was clearly not interested in his classmates' rivalry. Definite dedication to academics… yeesh. His picture's right there next to the definition.  
Finally, sitting together were two of the class… oddballs, if you wanted to be bold about it. Agitha Lepidout was a small blonde girl with a cheerful smile on her dazed face, her clothing consisting mostly of butterfly-related patterns and twin tail holders that were ladybug-themed. Beside her was Hilda Driscoll, the second richest heiress in the country, right under Zelda Callaghan. Like with him and Ravio, Hilda could have been mistaken for Zelda's twin, were it not for her black hair and ruby red irises. The two of them got along swimmingly, despite being in different status levels and their contrasting personalities.  
Link sighed. At least this year couldn't get worse…

Impa closed the door to Zelda's room, hearing her hit the pillow before Zelda groaned in her bed. The matron sighed before walking down the tall halls of the residence. Impa saw a kindred spirit in Zelda, but did not want her to endanger herself, or worse… have her father find out and tighten the leash to quite the metaphorical choking. As she departed from Zelda's door, she took a moment to stare at the painting that adorned the main hall as its sole decoration: Gustaf Callaghan, ever the silver-haired businessman, in a nice suit and tie while dear daughter Zelda in a flowing but modest powder blue dress, both looking with stern, focused faces. She knows there was once a time when both would smile, but that was only because of - her mind wandered to a memory of the girl's mother, her smiling face as the two of them spoke in camaraderie. How she missed those days, the two of them causing a stir around town with their friends. She turned her gaze out the window, to better recall those times, when she saw something very familiar fluttering across the yard.

 _'No, it can't be… can it?'_ Curiosity got the better of her and she went to investigate what was outside. "Do my eyes play tricks on me? _Huut?_ "  
The brown sprite was facing away from her, but at her voice twisted his head to look being him. "Well, well, well. Brawynn's charge. I've been looking for you."  
"Whatever for? I had thought after the defeat of Malladus, all would be at peace." Impa stated, her grip tightened slightly as memories creeped into her mind.  
Huut fluttered onto Impa's shoulder to relax. "I'll tell you after you get me some fish… the little ones. Cross-country flight kills ya!"  
Impa laughed lightly at that. "Alright, but be quick about it, I'm expecting someone later today."

Zelda had grown weary of her room and decided that a change of scenery, though the house was more lackthereof most days, was needed in addition to a quick snack break. Sneaking around the house was nothing new for her. She knew every creak of the floorboards and how to slip past Byrne when he did patrols. The one thing that threw her off during her little secret trip to the kitchen was that Impa was talking to… someone who was not Byrne or her father. In fact, that voice didn't seem quite human, it was rather high-pitched, and stuffing itself? _'What in Hyrule?'  
_ "You never did learn manners, Huut." she heard Impa chide.  
"Well _excuuuse me_ for nearly collapsing from starvation." the now-named… Hoot(?) said. There was more stuffing, and then a small belch. "Ah~ sardines and anchovies, pungent and satisfying~."  
Zelda had to keep herself from heaving at the mere thought of someone actually managing to eat such slimy, salty fish and say they enjoyed it. On pizza was bad enough, but straight?! YEEEUCK!  
"Anyway," Huut now said again, getting her attention. "The reason why I came to you is because of one thing: Athena and Sheikhan Wolf are needed again."  
 _'Athena? Sheikhan Wolf?'_ Zelda had thought to leave so as to not become an eavesdropper, a nasty habit that can be once you start, but on hearing such strange titles she found herself drawn into the conversation. She made sure to stay hidden in order to let this talk go on uninterrupted, however, as she had a feeling if someone were to show up that it would mean never finding out more about these two… people?  
"Huut, you know I can't. You know _he_ can't," one of Impa's hands started to become a fist, "we made sure Malladus would never come back again after…"  
Silence.  
 _'Impa's only ever this… heavily silent if something grave has happened.'_ Zelda started to have quite the sensation of guilt developing in the pit of her stomach. She started to slink away due to finding herself no longer hungry from hearing the exchange when she heard the one called Huut say something else.  
"Then we'll just find another Athena and Sheikhan Wolf! Shouldn't be too hard, you still have Brawynn's necklace with you, right? We just gotta find a new owner!"  
"Huut, we both know it's much more simple when it's just words." Impa now crossed her arms in irritation at the owl-like Fairy, "The one who owns Brawynn's Miraculous has to _show_ themselves to be worthy of the title in some aspect. She isn't a goddess of wisdom and patron goddess of heroic endeavors for nothing!"  
 _'Okay, I should_ really _be going now…'_ At least that's what Zelda mentally told herself, her feet and legs weren't cooperating and kept her in place.  
"Oh sure, Brawynn's a bit prude," Huut said with a snark, "but she opens up to anyone with enough seeds."  
Impa had to resist having her hands make contact with her forehead from that comment, "Assuming they can even find her… I made sure she was hidden in a secret place from everyone."  
'Okay, really need to get away now…' Zelda thought and started to do so now due to the panic that was settling in. At this point she knew she was risking getting caught, she's seen enough TV to know that!  
She heard the sound of gargling and then a heavy spit. "You humans always over complicate things." Huut said. "Move some mirrors, press a switch, pull a bookshelf, flip the doohickey." The statement was then followed by a groan, "I still remember that one mishap with that obstacle course mayhem JUST TO GET A FISH."  
"It was his idea," Impa muttered, "Wolfie thought you were getting a bit pudgy."  
That had Zelda covering her mouth and forcing her laughing down to stay mental. Though she was rather curious, did Huut's statement have truth to it? Just some repositioning of mirrors, some switches and other 'doohickies' reveal a secret of Impa's?

...There was only one way to find out. Boy was she going to **regret** this on being caught.

The boy's locker room, a place of rumors, dirty clothes and even dirtier jokes/comments/etc. Link had never been fond of such places even before puberty set in, but this (and the boy's bathroom) was one of the few places Cia couldn't get into. He originally opted for one of the boy's bathrooms on the ground level, but at the same time it would mean that Cia could have been standing not even 3 feet away waiting for him to come out. He needed to be stealthy about this. Chances are she would have given up stalking the outside of the locker room soon enough because there was no way to tell that he was even there without getting in trouble. But how to get out **without** getting caught, that was the question at hand.  
Link tried opening the door just a crack to see if she was out there. Sadly, the vision did not offer much so he had to poke his head out to see. Still no Cia. He was home free!  
He opened the door fully and stepped out proudly, his patience earned him safety, but that was soon replaced by a feeling of dread at a low giggle. Looking up to the ceiling nearly had him bolting.  
"Oh Link~!" Cia called as she had her hands firmly on the walls above the locker room door, her feet planted above the frame and her knees closed in to her chest. She had a wild smile on her face as she licked her lips.  
"FARORE!" Link found himself in the locker room again and hiding in one of the empty shower stalls.  
"You can't hide forever, darling~." he heard Cia call. He shuddered at the sickly sweetness.  
He looked around the lockers to see if there was anything to be used to deter the witch.  
Sadly, he could not use a locker as a throwable weapon due to them being attached to the wall and the legal issues that would abound from such an action.  
A towel? Good shielding to the eyes, but easily removable.  
Deodorant? Probably as a projectile, but he'd need a clear shot, something Cia wouldn't give.  
A jock strap? ...no… just no. That would get her prompted to think certain things instead of scaring her away.  
Looking around, he saw a sheen of bright purple he just knew to be from Ravio's locker. Luckily, his friend kept it unlocked, and he forgot his duffel bag. Unzipping it, he smiled at what he saw inside: a gauntlet of some sort with three tipped claws and what looked like a chain. It also had a purple rabbit tag on it, showing ownership. How his friend ever came across this stuff, he will never know, and even if he asks his bro's response is usually 'I have my ways/connections'.  
"Ravio, I'll give this back to you when I'm safe." he muttered as he zipped the bag back up and tossed it over his shoulder. He aimed the gauntlet to a large open window and pulled the trigger. The chain unraveled as the claws shot forth to a nearby lamp post, the embedded and clasped against the support as Link pressed a trigger to retract it.  
The feeling of weightlessness had him hold his breath as he flew out the room and unceremoniously smashed his face into the pole. Once he opened his eyes he found himself on solid ground again, on his back and staring up into the afternoon sky… which somehow had stars in it? Oh wait, that was just his vision. "Oh goddesses," he groaned with a crack in his voice, "Mom's gonna kill me if Dad doesn't for this stunt… because this is SO gonna bruise."  
He shook it off as best he could while making his way to the Callaghan estate, for two very important reasons…

'Either I have the dumbest luck in the world or the fates have conspired to make this happen. **Nobody** breaking into the room of their bodyguard should be able to do so with very _little_ resistance.' Zelda thought as she found herself in Impa's minimalistically-themed bedroom trying to figure out which reflective surface was suppose to be turned first. _'...Then again, not many teens have bodyguards to begin with.'_ Ignoring that she has a radically different lifestyle than the majority of other people, she carefully started to reposition anything that could reflect light to see what would happen if it hit a certain spot.  
"Let's see… move the mirrors, flip the switch, should the light direct to the bookcase? Is it even the right order of things?" She let out a small sigh of annoyance as she tried to remember what the one called Huut explained, "Maybe he was just being sarcastic and I completely fell for it…" she muttered to herself dishearteningly while leaning on a plain vanity desk, though she had managed to put enough weight on it to cause a shift, which got it to bounce some reflections of light and hit a thick, green cover-bound book with what looked to be reflective gold writing on it. "That seriously can't be it, can it?" Only one way to find out… she pulled the book out slowly until she heard a click. In the corner of her eye, she saw a smaller red book with similar, if more simplistic writing on it pop out slightly. Tentatively, she set her hand on the spine and pressed it in, hearing the _click_ again and now accompanied by the shifting of gears. She stepped away from the shelf as it creaked and turned open.  
"Dear Nayru, now I'm _sure_ that the fates _made_ this happen." With a deep breath and clenched firsts of anxiety she stepped through the now open shelving unit, "Goddesses it's dusty!" She coughed after finding that going into a new location should require some airing out time. It wasn't a long walk, but what she found nearly tore her apart. After finding that Impa had an additional secret (involving some kind of ninja-like outfit and other LARP-ing equipment) she spotted a picture behind it. With a gentle hold and a breaking heart she saw it was a younger-looking Impa, about Zelda's own age, with bleach blonde hair, a woman with red hair in dreadlocks, and… her mother, Hylia. Though she didn't get to know her mom for very long it was very clear that this young, blonde beauty with eyes the color of the setting sun sky wasn't just some stranger, as Zelda saw that face frequently in the mirror. 'Dad was right, I do _look so much like her…'_ She wiped at her tears with her forearm, the action forcing her gaze up and now noticing something rather odd: a small, blue treasure box-shaped object with intricate swirls going up and down it in some unknown shiny, blue-purple metal that looked like stylized clouds of some sort. "What in Hyrule…?" Without thinking about it she reached out for the box and pried it, finding that it was unlocked and not at all difficult to open up. Taking a quick look around, she warily opened the box the rest of the way and looked inside. That's when she found that a bright blue light bubbled out of the chest, causing her to block it with her hands and the picture due to how bright it was. The light started to rise up and move around the room quickly, and Zelda, in some panic tried to catch the light. She almost had it once or twice, but after putting down the picture, she cupped her hands above her head and with luck had the light between her fingers.  
Opening her fingers, she saw the light fade and in its place was a small bird-like creature with a large head that reminded her of a Bird of Paradise and a Shoebill with a cute little curly tail like a Shiba's, the coloring ranging from different sky blues with a white belly and white-tipped wings.  
 _'Aww, it's like a fluffy Articuno baby~!'_ she thought with an internal squee. Said squee almost leaked out when the small creature opened their eyes and looked up at her with midnight blue eyes.

The small blue being stared at her as though they were piecing something together in their mind, before a voice that was very much not so squeaky and bird-like but feminine came forth from their beak, "Hylia?"  
Zelda tensed, giving the other a rehearsed smile before responding, "No, that's my mother. I'm her daughter, Zelda." Years of having to quell her emotions for the public kept her tone even and without any clearly noticeable traits of sadness.  
"Forgive me," said the blue one as she took to the air, somehow managing to float in place despite no use of her wings, "Had I known, I wouldn't have made such an immediate remark that would upset you so."  
 _'She could tell?'_ Zelda was both impressed and a bit worried.  
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am the Kwami of Wisdom, Brawynn." she did a bowing motion that pulled her into a somersault.  
Zelda giggled. "It's nice to meet you, Brawynn. I heard Impa talking to someone called Huut, does that name mean anything to you?"  
"They both do, actually," Brawynn remarked with a nod, "Lady Impa was once my partner in her youth and Huut was my teacher of the Kwami ways."  
"Partner? Teacher?" Zelda blinked a few times in surprise, _'Impa was… and Huut is like Brawynn?'  
_ "Speaking of, where are they? I know this is Lady Impa's room, but I don't see her here." she puffed up her body in a huff. "Huut better not be gorging himself again..."  
"On sardines, you mean?"  
Just the mentioning ruffled Brawynn's feathers. "Please don't speak of those tasteless creatures… and you're dodging the question."  
Zelda did another rehearsed smile, though this one showed some strain, "Oh, um… I sort of came in here without her… permission…"  
An awkward silence fell around them. Then Brawynn quickly flew away, this time actually flapping her wings.  
"No, no, no!" Zelda ran after her in great alarm, "Oh goddesses don't tell her, I'll completely fess up, just stop!"  
Brawynn turned around and landed on the rim of the chest she was in. "Due to the desperation in your voice, you feel as though you have been caged by family. You desire freedom, and you want to live as yourself."  
Color Zelda shocked beyond all belief. She had only known this small creature for all of a few minutes and somehow Brawynn managed to know her very mind and heart within that time. Is she a herald of the goddesses? A telepath? Just very, very lucky? "H-How did you…?"  
"Your eyes speak it as clear as the morning sky, perhaps this is why you were given such blue eyes." Brawynn paused before bringing her wing below her beak, "No, no, no, that's a poor comparison, Impa's were red and filled with willpower… you have something different, a uniqueness about such eyes."  
Zelda just stood there, kerfluffled, by the words of the blue one.  
"Ah, now I see what reflects in your eyes… justice." Brawynn nodded a bit as she announced this result, "You wish to do what is right despite your own limitations due to your lifestyle. Such a reflection of such is rare."

Zelda was still pretty shell shocked by all of this and any words she tried to think of fell flat in her mind. How _could_ she respond to such statements? And then there's the little issue of if Impa finds out… speaking of, she swore she started hearing footsteps coming to the room. "Oh no, oh no!" She gasped softly as she tried to figure out what to do in this pinch. Brawynn had to be hidden away now, also needed to somehow undo the hidden passage and the reflections that caused it. All in the matter of a few seconds. Chances are her luck was _finally_ running out now.  
"We must work quickly!" Brawynn zipped around trying to make the room look like it had before Zelda messed around, the perpetrator helping with the process, and the two soon found themselves hiding in Impa's rather spacious closet after Brawynn grabbed something from her treasure chest and perched herself upon Zelda's golden locks.  
Zelda willed her breath and heart to be steady as the footsteps became louder and louder, her thoughts going from 'Please don't enter, there is no way I could explain why this blue bird on my head is nor as to why I'm in my bodyguard's room without sounding like a crazy person' to rapid-fire prayers to the Golden Goddesses to not be caught. She was also a bit confused as to why she heard a knock, but that only made the worry worse since it meant _someone else_ might discover her!  
What she didn't know was that the footsteps and knocking was done by Link, since he had come for his semi-daily training with Impa. She wasn't at the front to meet and greet him and Byrne was… uncomfortably silent but cooperative in letting him in. He had figured to check her room first (after getting instructions from Byrne) to see if she was there, only to find his knock pushed the already ajar door slightly more open to an empty room. _'Not one for extensive decorating.'_ He thought as he took a few seconds to look around in hopes that Impa would be in there.  
He heard his phone go off with a distinctive tune, and as he looked at the ID, he saw his dad calling. Answering it, he could hear his dad on the other end.  
["Sorry to pull you away from Impa, son, but some idiot decided to mess around with the storage room at the University's Loft Wing, I was hoping you could come down and help."]

Link walked away from Impa's room before answering his dad, "It seems she's not in anyway, Dad, so I guess I'm free this afternoon. I'll be over as soon as I can."  
["See ya soon!"]  
"Okay Dad!"

Zelda heard the footsteps falling away, and once she was sure she could no longer hear them she left her hiding place, made a beeline for her own room then promptly slid to the floor after closing her door, Brawynn mimicking the gesture, "Nayru's Love, that was close!"  
"Verily," the blue Kwami sighed then floated to Zelda's eye level, a strange object hanging from her talons, "and I'm afraid I must ask something of you… put this on."  
"What is it?" Zelda reached out for the object only to find her new companion more or less shoving it into her palm. On inspection she found that it was a choker with the bluest of royal blue silk she had ever seen in her life, the charm hanging from it a brilliant gold and shaped like the wings of Hyrule's Crest with three, circular gemstones grouped to look like a triangle in the center of it, the gems themselves lightest of blues she has ever witnessed.  
 _Da Da Da DAAAAAHH!  
_ The ringing in her ears jolted her from her inspection and almost dropped the choker, "What in Hyrule!?"  
"Side effect," was Brawynn's only comment. "With this, you can become the Legendary Hero Athena!"  
"Legendary Hero? I thought the Legendary Hero was a male."  
Brawynn chirped in indignation. "Those were the ones that were cemented in the beginnings. While they did _Hyrule's_ threats, Athena and Sheikhan Wolf handled the much bigger matters."  
Zelda took a few moments to ponder the Kwami's words before slipping the jewelry around her neck, "Very well… what do I do now?"  
"Simply ask me to spread my wings." Brawynn stated.  
"Anything else I should know before we jump into this adventure?" Zelda asked with some excitement shining in her eyes.  
Brawynn chuckled softly at her enthusiasm and caution, "Clever girl, making sure to get all the details beforehand." The Kwami floated about in front of her. "You will have the ability to fly for certain periods, but if you use it too quickly it will be wasted. You also have a magical spell called the Light Arrow, which is used to cleanse what enemies we come across in battle. To summon that, you need complete focus and let your magic flow through you, releasing it in a dazzling display of light. When that happens, the power of the Navii will continue the cleansing."  
"It all sounds like a dream…" Zelda muttered as she gently placed her hands on the choker's charm to remind herself that it's not.  
The Kwami nuzzled her upper body against the hand Zelda had on the charm, "I assure you, it's not. This is very much real," her tone was soft but affirming, "as are the dangers that come with it. I don't doubt you, my new lady, but you must do the same. Believe in yourself."  
Zelda closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, "Very well," she stated on exhaling and opening her eyes, "Let's begin! Brawynn, spread your wings!"  
The Kwami did a barrel roll into the choker's charm, which made the gems within take a hue akin to sapphires, which also resulted in a bright energy traveling across her body, replacing her clothing with a completely new and foreign outfit.  
It was a sleek yet simple strong sapphire blue dress that went down to mid-thigh, a pair of white leggings underneath for modesty's sake. The shoulders were bare except for a layer of stiff feathers flowing out; under the feathers were sleeves that appeared on her bicep that went down to her wrists and fanned out like the petals of a lotus flower. Her feet now had on a brass scale patterned shoes that went halfway up her calf with the toes and heels having a something akin to retractile talons.  
Once the transformation was complete, Zelda walked over and looked into her mirror to see a blue mask ornamented in the the same stiff feathers as her shoulders that covered her nose to make it look like she had a beak. Her eyes went wide and she observed that the magic had also changed her hair from simple a simple ponytail to a four-strand braid that was tied at the end with a white bow. She felt a slight chill and shook her back, revealing a pair of sleek feathered wings that resembled Brawynn's in coloring.  
"Woah… this is… unreal!" Zelda exclaimed, the wings flapping in her excitement. That got her to let out a surprised yelp as she didn't expect them to move so suddenly with her emotions, but once the initial shock wore off she started to laugh, "This is amazing!" She ran over to the large window and opened it, feeling the breeze on her face. She had the sudden urge to test it out… to spread her wings! Acting on impulse, she planted her feet on the window sill, and jumped.

Now being on the 4th floor of a manor may seem crazy and stupid to do this sort of thing, but that thought didn't come to mind as she started falling. As she neared the ground, she opened her wings and wind collected beneath them, and she was off into the air.  
"WOOOOOOHOOOOO~!"

In the dark cavern of the Unknown, fires were lit as a ring of deep red glowed. A scaled boot stepped into the lighted circle and a figure glared into the light. Boarova let the light shine down on him from above.  
"Athena has come out once more." His deep voice rumbled. The gemstone on his head glowed in resonance.  
He turned his attention to a depiction on the wall, giant wings above the head of a creature. The man's gauntlet moved to point at the image. With a snap of his metal covered fingers, the picture melted into a black ball, floating aimlessly until it rested in the man's hand.  
"Gufuu," the ball opened its bright red eye, enameled in gold and pupiled in black. "It is time to bring out one's darkness, and claim what is mine."  
The Gufuu sprouted tiny wings out of its sides and started to fly towards the skylight, its pattern unsteady like a newborn.  
"Go, my Gufuu!" Boarova called, brandishing his trident. "And claim another for the bleakness of this world!" His roaring cackle echoed throughout the cavern.

Link sped up the steps to Nohansen University with great haste. He had ended up distracted on the way there due to this kid's cat stuck up a tree and couldn't just ignore the crying and said cat looking kind of pitiful while it was stuck up there. _'Really hope Dad understands the delay,'_ he thought with a sigh as he pushed the doors open. He ended up coming in at an awkward time, as he came across one of the university teachers carrying something in their hands away while a student only a few years his senior was trailing after, begging and pleading to not take the object away.  
"Please, I promise I'll stop daydreaming in class, just give my locket back!" The girl pleaded, her red eyes brimmed with tears while pulling back her auburn red locks.  
"I gave you your final warning already, Miss Medli! You've proven to me that you _cannot_ be trusted to listen, and so you cannot be trusted with your so-called precious locket!"  
Their back and forth of pleas and denial faded as the two walked on, the teacher locking the precious piece of jewelry in the Loft Wing and locked it up from further access.  
"That was… pretty harsh," Link muttered as he made his way to his father's classroom with some reluctance. One half of him was nagging to try and help that Medli girl out and get the locket back while the other reminded that his father needed his help. The internal conflict caused Link to put his hood up so that nobody could see how distraught he was from such, but pulled it back due to two reasons:

His dad wanted him in the Loft Wing, where the locket is being kept.

He was at Boris' classroom door.

 _'As they say, two birds, one stone.'_ He thought as he knocked on the door before opening it. "Hey Dad."

Boris spun around in his wheelchair at the desk in the front. "Hey, son. How was Impa treating you?"  
"Apparently something came up and she couldn't train today," Link explained as he walked over to the desk, "but other than that she treats me pretty fairly."  
"And what of your secret princess?" Boris smirked in a playful manner as his son's cheeks became a bright red.  
"Uh, sh-she wasn't around today either!" Link spat out quickly.  
"Aww, a pity… still, the world goes on. How was school?" Boris asked as they embraced in a hug.  
"Alright, for the most part. Darunia and Ravio are in my class." Link smiled before a grimace took its place. "But so is Cia..."  
"Yikes," Boris cringed a bit at the mention, "I know that feeling. I had someone like her chasing after me too... She only cooled off once I started dating your mom and moved to Labrynna. I think she found someone there, I'm not all that sure. She hasn't tried to find me online... I think, so maybe she did?"  
"Is your side of the family cursed or something?"  
"With good looks and gentlemanly charms," Boris chuckled with a smile.  
Link rolled his eyes in mild amusement, "Anyway, what did you need me to do in the Loft Wing again?"  
Boris chuckled a bit. "Um… well, you see… your mother's birthday is coming up, and I've been keeping her gift here so that she doesn't find it. I also had the then-brilliant idea to put it in a high place with the help of a co-worker, which… you can imagine how well trying to get it has been going over."  
Resisting the urge to laugh at his father's lack of hindsight (even though said reason is still pretty touching due to it being a birthday gift), Link nodded with a grin, "I'll see what I can do for ya, Dad. What's it look like?"  
"It's in a blue box around the foliage display from last year's drama production. It's in the shape of a rabbit on the moon" The man spun his chair to look out the window and sighed dreamily. "Oh, my love, could you ever forgive me for being such a fool~."  
Link barely managed to cover his mouth from both laughing and gagging at his father's star-struck statement. It's moments like that where he wondered if his father ever realized they've been married for 20 years and not last month. "I'll get right on it, Dad," Link gave his father another hug before departing.

"See you soon, son! And good luck!"  
"You too, and thanks!"

Medli was sitting in the stall of the bathroom, eyes even redder due to crying, "Oh dear… I'm so sorry!" She muttered while hiding her face in her hands, another sob wracking her body.

Up above fluttering about, the Gufuu peered around to find someone to use for its Master's plan. It saw Medli's crying and fell to the ground in front of her. The sudden drop startled Medli and she stared at the creature. They were locked into something of a staring match for what felt like a lifetime (it had only been roughly a minute or two tops) when the Gufuu suddenly launched itself at Medli's face like a cat trying to get their prey above. Medli screamed and tried to cover her face, but the thing was too quick. It dissolved as it entered her and her body went limp, as though she were a puppet waiting to be moved by their owner.  
 **"Greetings, my child. I am Boarova."** The eerie echo in Medli's mind said. **"It would seem as though you had something taken that was yours alone. I can help you get it back, but you must get something for me in exchange. Do we have a deal?"  
** "...Yes, Boarova..." The girl uttered before her body tense as black scales bubbled across her body.  
 **"Very well, Helmaroc Queen. Now Go! And bring me the Miraculous of Athena!"  
** A shadow loomed across the ground as it grew, and a screeching call resounded around the area.

"Blue box, blue box…" Link muttered to himself as he looked around the Loft Wing among the drama class's production, "Moon rabbit… blue box…why couldn't it be a T.A.R.D.I.S. instead? That would be way easier to spot in all of this." He looked up and caught a glimpse of something blue shining in the green bushes upon the higher shelves. "Huh, that was easier than I thought… now how to get it down? Well one way comes to mind!" He began climbing up the nearby ladder, trying to keep it steady. In hindsight, a one-legged step-ladder is not the best thing to use... "C'mon… almost got i-"  
 _BOOM!  
_ Something shook the entire room and threw him off balance with his fingers on the box. He fell down to the floor and unfortunately, the box stayed where it was. _'I think I get my hindsight, or lackthereof, from Dad…'_ He thought while his body ached with dull pain all over. Another crashing sound was heard, and part of the wall crumbled to see the outside. 'That's not good!' Link forced himself to his feet to try and see what could be seen from outside. The only thing he could see, though, was a large yellow eye staring back at him.

 **"WhErE iS iT?!"** A distorted voice screeched.  
Link couldn't say anything, he was too engrossed in fear, so he did the only thing that he could do: he ran.  
'Man oh man, what is with this day?!' He yelled in his head. The building shook again as an ear-piercing screech rang through the air.  
 **"WhErE iS wHaT iS mInE?!"**

Zelda didn't know she could feel this free, skimming the clouds with her fingertips, laughing in amusement and surprise at finding that her fingers were now wet from touching them, "That was interesting!" Unfortunately, her attention was cut short as she heard something cry out. Looking down below, she saw what could only be assumed as a giant bird. Its navy feathers stood out against the pale concrete and rusted orange brick of a building at the university that it was trying to smash into.  
...Wait a minute.  
"Why is a giant bird trying to destroy a school? I could be going there! Maybe! In a few years!"  
Putting any questions away for the moment, she flew down straight at the beast. No school would be condemned if she had anything to say about it… though the irony is obviously lost.

Link was between a Helmaroc and a hard place. Why is it that whatever he puts his mind to suddenly becomes so complicated? Another crashing cause a gold pendant to fall in front of him. Looking over it, he recognized it as the one from earlier. _'Oh great, I find something I saw that I intended to look for, and I still can't get Mom's necklace.'_ His musings were interrupted as something clonked him on the head. "Ow! What the -" looking down, he saw - _'Blue box? No way it's that easy...'  
_ It was a glass-like blue metal box designed to look like a treasure chest, some intricate gold designs embedded within the material.  
"Well, Dad, let it not be said you don't pull out the stops for Mom." Just to make sure that nothing happened to the necklace itself, he picked it up and looked the box over. _'No damage on the outside, let's check on the inside…'_ He thought as he opened it up. What he found was not a necklace but instead a bracer-like bracelet with a wolf's paw in the top/center of it made out of the brightest green gems he had ever seen. "This is _not_ Mom's box." Also, a _bright_ green light shot out and started flying around. "Goddesses above!" The ball of light started bouncing across the shelves until the building shook again, the light stopping in front of Link, dissipating into an evergreen furred wolf cub with a big head and little legs.  
"BOBO!" The small creature squealed with glee, licking Link's face nearly a dozen times (but no saliva left behind, strange) in greeting, "I've missed you, I've missed you, I've missed you! Come on, put on your bracelet and let's go defeat Gufuus!"  
Link only gazed at the little thing, "What."  
Any response was cut short as someone else's voice was heard.  
"Hey Kakariko Fried Cucco! Don't you think it's rude to trash a school?"  
Link looked up to see some sort of humanoid figure with wings in the sky, "Wait, is that _Pit_?"

A heavy gasp was heard from the small pup, and Link saw stars in its eyes. "It's Athena! Athy's back, Athy's back!" The spirit grabbed the bracelet and slapped it on Link's left wrist. "Howl Time! Howl Time!"  
"What?" Link gaped at the little thing. "We don't have time to howl or whatever -"  
"Close enough!" The pup said as it dove into the bracelet.  
Link could only freak out as bright lights surrounded his body and gave him a sudden outfit change into what he could only think as being as some sort of anime fantasy medieval cosplay. He was now in a tight, dark green tunic that went just to his thighs; his shoulders and forearms were adorned with armor plates covered in short fur, though it was more shaggy on the shoulders. He now had earthy brown boots and tighter cream colored pants instead of jeans and sneaker. Link could feel a hat and something attached to them form on his head and a mask slip over his eyes, making his vision sharper than it already was. He also found that a belt soon adorned his waist that matched his boots in terms of color, along with a weapon's halter across his chest. He tried twisting around and felt something on his back, and when he reached for it, he found the hilt of a… A SWORD?! _'My Final Fantasy dream has been realized! Thank you, years of cosplaying Cloud, for paying off!'_ He internally squeed.  
His self observation was cut short as the screeching of the giant bird.  
 **"AtHeNa! yOuR mIrAcUlOuS!"**

'Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good.' He thought as he noticed that the person apparently named Athena (not Pit) was now trying to avoid being pecked and/or taloned to death in the air. 'Doesn't look good either. I'd better help!' He grasped on a shelf that wasn't damaged and started to climb through the building's cracked walls and ceiling to get to the roof. He came up just in time, as Athena has gotten enough wind blown at her by the large fowl to be sent flying down and crashing right into Link's body. Both parties groaned in pain a bit before looking at each other.  
"Nice ears," she giggled a bit.  
"Thanks?" Link reached up to find that, attached to his new hat, were some sort of animal ears. 'Cat? Dog? Wolf?'  
"So, I'm guessing you're Sheikhan Wolf?" Athena teased.  
"Yes?" He honestly had no idea and just decided to roll with it, "I-I mean, yes! I am!"  
"You're as new to this as I am, I guess?"  
"Heh, ya caught me." Sheikhan shrugged his shoulders. "But since this bird's in a _fowl_ mood, might as well let a carnivore show it the food chain."  
Athena rolled her eyes as she got to her feet, "That was horrible."

 _'I don't even know where that came from,'_ Sheikhan thought as he did the same.  
The Helmaroc Queen glared down at the two, as she felt Boarova's voice in her skull.  
 **"Athena and Sheikhan Wolf together again. Seems I didn't need to wait for one or the other. Go, Helmaroc Queen! Tear them apart for their Miraculous!"  
** The Helmaroc Queen screamed in fury and dove at them, talons at the ready to grab and/or maim.  
Sheikhan saw this and grabbed Athena in his arms as he leaped out of the way and off the building. The two of them screamed as they fell, but as Sheikhan landed, there was no pain and he quickly sprinted off.  
"Mind filling me in on exactly what's going on?!" Sheikhan yelled at Athena's face, their masks almost touching.  
 _'Wow, he has really blue eyes… and… sclera?'_ Athena wasn't sure how to feel about that bit, but for now pushed it aside and worked on his question, "We've been chosen to stop an evil force from taking over the world. Usual superhero fare and all."  
"You're oddly calm about the whole thing!"  
"I've had some time to adjust."  
"Well lucky you, I just found out only a few minutes ago!"  
"Your Kwami should have told you."  
"That's what the thing is called? He was starstruck when you showed up. Next thing I know, I'm carrying a goddess like a princess!"  
Athena blushed at that comment and hoped her mask covered that up, "You can probably put me down at this point if you're so against this?" She huffed a little bit.  
"...Oh yeah." He skidded to a stop and set her on her feet, "You also crash-landed into me earlier too, you hurt?"  
"I'm fine," she gave a nod, "and you?"

"All good."  
 **"NoT fOr LoNg!"** The giant bird screeched as it landed in front of the pair, wings flapping in anger that was coupled with a cry of rage. **"GiVe Me YoUr MiRaCuLoUs NoW!"  
** "No way!" They both stated in unison as Sheikhan Wolf drew his sword.  
That was when Athena realized that she had no weapon on her person, "You've gotta me kidding me! Where's my sword? Or staff? Sai blades? I'll even settle with nunchucks!"  
"You keep thinking about it, I'll fend this big bird off!" Sheikhan charged forward with a battle cry as he worked on their opponent's demise.

 _'Note to self: speak with Brawynn about where my weapon location is!'_ Athena patted herself down a bit trying to see that, maybe, her weapon was just concealed on her body instead of being out in the open like her partner's sword, only to find that wasn't the situation. "Din's Fire, where's my weapon!?" She groaned in great frustration, her wings reacting by flaring out a bit, then covered her masked face with her hands and moaned more softly in disappointment now. As her wings relaxed from her anger, they brushed against her arms a little, which caused them to glow a bit, "The day is just all surprises, isn't it?" She muttered to herself as she touched one wing with her hand, which resulted in her wings transforming into an archery bow! The upper and lower limbs feathered out like the wings once on her back, though now they possessed a swirling pattern carved into them. The riser looked like a pointed bird beak, with the beak settling where the mounting would be. Oddly enough, there was no bowstring attached where it should be, which caused a great amount of worry in her.  
The sound of Helmaroc Queen's shrieks and Sheikhan Wolf's body sliding to Athena's feet snapped the magical maiden out of her worry as she assisted in getting him back up to his feet.  
"I can't get even a scratch in!" He growled, in half a literal manner, as he then grabbed Athena by her waist and jumped to the side with her to avoid being pecked. "Where'd the bow come from? It's pretty cool."  
"My wings turned into it, that's a thing with me apparently." Athena explained as she glared at the monstrous fowl that tried to attack. That's when something strange happened, she saw a shining arrow pointing at the Helmaroc Queen's mask. _'So's that!'_ She added mentally, "We have to get that mask off of her somehow!"  
"How in Hyrule do you know that?" He raised a masked brow at her.  
"It's another one of those things that I do, apparently!"  
The Helmaroc Queen flapped her wings and started stirring up building twisters. The cyclones were growing and closing in on the two of them.  
"We need to get to higher ground!" Sheikhan roared over the winds.  
"How?!"  
"Put your wings back on!"  
" _How?_ "  
"Do the reverse of what you did!?" Sheikhan growled as a familiar purple bag slammed into his face. _'You gotta be kidding me.'_ he thought as he rummaged through the bag to pull out the item from earlier. Fastening it to his wrist, he grabbed Athena's waist again and shot the claws to the rooftop, both of them screaming all the way up. They landed in a heap again and groaned as they got up.  
"Ugh… I think you need to work on your landings." Athena whined before looking at her hands, noticing something off. "Hey, where's my bow?!"  
"Ow… they're on your back, poking my ribs." Sheikhan grumbled as he got off of her and on all fours, causing Athena to giggle. "What now?"  
"You have a tail!"  
Sheikhan found his face heating up and also trying to look, "Oh my Farore," he mumbled, "I do."  
"That's so precious!" Athena squealed while covering her mouth with her wings giving a few flaps.  
Sheikhan covered his face with his hands, "Oh smite me now, Din, please." He then found himself in Athena's arms as he narrowly avoided being pecked. "Th-Thanks."  
Athena sighed in relief at making sure her buddy was okay, "Welcome… so, uh… where'd you get the clawshot thingy?"

"I-..." Sheikhan paused, looking at the gadget's marking, thinking it might reveal himself too early. "...know a guy?" _'Oh Nayru, what kind of lame excuse have you ingrained in me, Ravio?!'_ He decided to scold his 'brother' at a later date for that. "Right now, we need to get that mask off."  
"Any ideas?" Athena asked with a raised masked brow and crossed her arms.  
Sheikhan glanced at the Helmaroc, when his vision went dark. He panicked for a moment until he saw pale outlines forming shapes, and glowing brightly was a human sized form behind a glowing red eye. Glaring further saw some kind of target on the center of the mask that he felt significant about. He turned back to Athena, almost shielding his eyes from her brightness in this sight. "I have one, but it's risky and we'll probably only have one shot."  
"Do explain?" Athena questioned as she started to reach for her wings. She still wasn't sure how she was going to do anything without a bowstring, but she just had to trust in Brawynn, in her partner… in herself.  
"Grab me and take to the sky." Sheikhan stated. "Let's get this overgrown cucco to play chicken."  
Athena let out a groan at that joke, "That was even _more_ horrible than the previous one you did."  
He would have retorted, but the Helmaroc was closing in. "Groan later, fly now!"  
Athena grabbed him by the shoulders as the Queen smashed her head on the roof, crumbling the roof below their feet as though it was a cookie left in milk for too long. They tried to hold steady, but lack of experience with teamwork almost had Athena drop him.  
"Gyaa!"

"Sorry!"  
The Helmaroc Queen shook off the rubble and set her gaze on the awkward duo. She screeched again and took flight after them.  
Sheikhan saw this and readied the clawshot. "Get ready to dive at it!"  
"Are you crazy?!" Athena panicked.  
"You're asking that NOW? REALLY? Just do it!"  
With a sharp inhale of breath and tightly closing her eyes for a few seconds, Athena let their forms start to drop on their own for a few seconds while she adjusted so that the duo were now facing the bedeviled bird. Athena felt the wind around her get stronger as the barreled down, her grip tightening at her partner's waist.  
Sheikhan focused his sight on the target and fired the claw, the chains rattling until it latched onto the mask.  
"Hey, where did _that_ appear from?!" Athena yelled as she noticed the now visible target.  
"Just keep going!" Sheikhan yelled as they passed the Helmaroc Queen's head towards the ground. The chain growing taut and the bird's body followed after them forcefully. In a matter of moments, the duo hit the ground and the chain still pulled the bird down.  
Athena bounced away, but Sheikhan stayed down, his feet planted as he still pulled the bird closer. The Helmaroc Queen was coming in too fast, he never would escape in time.

"Sheikhan! Get out of the way!" Athena screamed. If he heard her, he didn't acknowledge it, and the bird smashed down, the ground exploding in a cloud of dust that blocked any view. "WOLF!" She screamed again, dread and fear rising inside of her. She flapped her wings to clear the debris to see that happened, and she gasped.  
Sheikhan stood, clawshot in one hand, holding the bird down, the other, had his sword drawn, a silver glinting blade that sparkled in the sun, _piercing through_ the mask of the queen.  
Athena had a couple different reactions bubbling up in her now. Due to the realization that Sheikhan Wolf is alive the panicking was slowing to a stop, but it was quickly being replaced with anger, joy at him being alive and the need to cry the stress out all at the same time. For now she forced herself into a state of neutrality to focus on the fact that the job seemed done. She would just have her emotional reactions in the privacy as she does in her daily life. "It's done…" she sighed in relief as she gazed at the broken mask and her partner's form.

Sheikhan pulled his sword from the mask and steadied his gait as he walked over to her, hand outstretched, the sun was behind him, and Athena could only gaze at his serious expression in awe.  
"Are you hurt, my goddess?"  
She stared at him for a few seconds longer in silence before snapping back to reality and realized he was talking to _her_ , "Oh, yes! I'm fine, just some scrapes. I think." She gave herself a quick inspection, "Wow, this is some tough material… must be part of the magic." she muttered.

Any more words between them were silenced as they heard crackling of metal, their attention was now back to the fallen foe, the mask cracking as the Helmaroc Queen flailed once more, finally shattering as she glared at the two heroes, her wide golden-brown, bloodshot eyes scowling at them, and in the middle of her forehead, a golden rimmed red eye glared down at them.  
"Stage two of the boss," Athena stated as she gave a nod to her partner, who returned the gesture.  
"I'll get it to hold still." Sheikhan replied as he aimed the clawshot at the Helmaroc's neck, as he fired, he turned his gaze to Athena. "Get your bow ready."  
Athena reached for her wings and, on feeling the bow in her grip once more, took her stance and readied her shot. Despite no physical bowstring attached, the motions of lining up and preparing to launch _created_ it out of her magic, along with the arrow to launch.  
Sheikhan landed on the bird's head, having to grab onto some of its feathers, which did not help his situation. He was able to grasp the comb above the red eye, and without hesitation embedded his sword into it. The Helmaroc Queen screamed and flailed, trying to throw the wolf off, but he held firm, and soon, the bird collapsed back onto the ground.  
"Athena! Do it now!"  
Athena inhaled slowly as she pulled the string back, the world around her slowing down as the carvings and nocked arrow glowed an illuminating light gold. The talons of her shoes dug into the ground to steady her form as the power of her Kwami blazed through her like an electric-like fire. "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" As she spoke and released the arrow, time did seem to stop for all but her weapon as it flew straight into the third eye of the monster. On contact, the world sped up to normal time for her and the talons retracted like cat claws.  
The Helmaroc Queen let out one final screech as her body dispersed like ice melting from her body, leaving Medli standing there (until she collapsed to her knees at least) and the black substance on the ground gathered up and reformed into the Gufuu from before. The dark spirit went unnoticed as the two went to the young woman's aid.  
"Are you severely injured?" Athena asked as she helped Medli to her feet and assisted in keeping her steady. She had figured the fight would have resulted in nasty bruises as minimum, but it seemed that all the damage went away with the previous form.  
"No, I-I'm fine," Medli's head still felt a bit light, but other than that she wasn't in any sort of physical pain.  
"Aside from that, I think this belongs to you." Sheikhan held out the gold item.

"My locket!" Medli gasped as she took it from his hand and held it too her chest. "Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me." She gingerly opened it up and looked inside, her gaze softening as she stared at the picture inside. It was of her and her boyfriend of a few years, Komali, snuggled together in their coats as the snow powered their heads. "He bought this for me recently for our anniversary… I was so happy when he gave it to me and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. I guess my small honeymoon phase ended up…" she shrunk in on herself a little, "destructive."  
"Well, I'm no expert," Sheikhan chuckled, "but maybe you can ask Professor Jäger how to keep the two separate. He's good at that."  
Athena gave her partner a questioning look but only for a while, _'How would he have known that this professor worked here? Is this his school?'_ She thought before giving her attention back to Medli, who was speaking again.  
"Yeah," the auburn haired one nodded, "that should be something to do sooner rather than later. Especially given how this afternoon went. I-I'm sorry that I did all of this too, I swear I didn't mean it at all."  
"Fury can blind, but thought and learning from your mistakes can keep such from happening again." Athena added. She paused and blinked as she repeated the words in her head. _'Oh what did I say?!'_ The other two looked at her before Sheikhan chuckled.  
"What my dear friend means is that we all get angry, but as long as you can think before you react, things will turn out okay."  
Medli nodded in understanding now, as did Athena as thanks for his translation.  
"I better get back now, mostly to apologize to the school staff and then some," Medli put her locket on and held it in her hands a little with a squeeze, "wish me luck!" And then she departed from the two.  
"Good luck!" They chorused as the college student ran. That's when Athena heard a strange beeping noise.  
"Huh?" She couldn't pin where it was, it was in front of her but also below at the same time?

"Athena… did you always have one bright blue gem on your choker?" Sheikhan Wolf pondered as he noticed that one was a bit of an oddball compared to the sapphires.  
"No…" Color her worried now, "I should go and speak to my Kwami about this, with haste." She took a few steps forward then looked back at him, "Thank you, Wolfie." With a smile, her wings gave a few hard flaps and she was flying like the free spirit she is (for now).  
Sheikhan found himself blushing a bit at the nickname, _'That kind of sounds like when… oh man! Dad!'_ Guess who remembered that he had to do something and ended up the most sidetracked as possible. Due to the magic of his own Kwami, he made it back to the grounds in record time, quickly going to the Loft Wing and finding his mom's birthday gift. His transformation had also worn off by the time he had achieved his quest and, though shaken from the sudden monster bird on school grounds, Boris was still his normal self. "Dad! You alright?"  
"I'm fine, son. What about you?" Boris replied. "I saw that giant bird attacking the Loft Wing and feared the worst!"  
"I managed to hide before it could spot me and get away from whatever was falling," well he was sort of telling the truth, "told you video games helped my reflexes."  
"Sure, sure, son. Keep telling yourself that." Boris grinned at his son, looking him over.  
In some instinct, Link hid the bracelet with his sleeve. "So… uh, I'll see you at home?"

"Yup!" Boris smiled broadly as he nodded and Link gave him the moon rabbit box, "Can't wait to see Yuki's reaction with her gift too. Chances are she'll be thrilled!"  
 _'Then again you could give her glitter and she'd_ still be happy since it came from you.'He had another one of those 'oh how sweet/oh gag me' moments in his head. He quickly left the campus, intent on figuring out what was going on!

Boarova growled at the sight of defeat. "So it seems these wielders learn fast. As am I." he tightened his grip in the trident and balled his other hand into a fist. "But the potential of these Gufuus is limitless, and these so-called 'Heroes' are clumsy." He peered through the sight of the Gufuu, looking down at the destruction of the campus from the clock tower it took as a perch. "It won't be long now until they make that mistake again."  
The Gufuu cast its gaze on Medli once again, its eye growing wide.

"Soon, Athena, you and Sheikhan Wolf will beg for mercy!" Boarova swung the trident in an arc, smashing the pommel into the ground, snarling in a grisly smile. "AND I WILL TEAR YOUR SOULS FROM THE MIRACULOUS THAT ARE MINE ALONE! HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA!"

The sun had begun to touch the horizon as Athena flew to the manor, peering quietly into her chambers and ended up de-transforming mid-air over her bed. At least the sudden landing was soft-ish, though how she would explain how her bedsheets suddenly became askew without sleeping in them would be a tad difficult to explain. Getting to her feet she looked at Brawynn with a blank expression before going on an emotional rollercoaster that could be summed up 3 ways:  
The happy parts: "I flew in the air, Brawynn! I _flew_! It was amazing, goddesses how soon can we do that again!?"

The angry parts: "I can't believe he _almost_ killed himself trying to take down that bird! At least a heads-up would have been nice instead of watching him **nearly die**!"  
The 'well my life's completely altered now' parts: "Oh goddesses, how in the world will I explain any and all absences from my activities when one of those… things shows up again? Especially to Impa and my father!"  
Brawynn simply perched nearby and watched her new ward paced and gesticulated her thoughts and emotions of the day out to relieve herself from the anxieties of battle. _'Even after all these years, the reaction is about the same…but she's adapted faster than some, even Lady Impa. Perhaps it was fate we were to meet.'  
_ Eventually Zelda grew quiet and sat on her windowsill, looking out to the blazing sun in the distance, soon finding her Kwami joining her. "Brawynn?"  
"Yes, my lady?"  
"Have the Sheikhan Wolves of the past ever… how to put this… been reckless but still endearing somehow?"  
The blue bird chirped a light laugh. "Yes they have. I chalk it up to his Kwami's… impulsive tenacity."  
The new Heroine of Hyrule let out a hum in thought before absentmindedly stroking Brawynn's head, a far-off look in her eyes, "It was… strange, when he asked if I was okay. There was… a genuine sense to the question, like he's cared for me for a lifetime. His gaze didn't show worry, but…" she trailed off, her thoughts lost in the process of explaining.  
"It was a gaze unfamiliar to you?"  
"Yes!" She exclaimed a bit louder than she expected, then softly apologized and continued on, "It was like he… trusted me? No, that doesn't sound right. I just can't put words to it. When he looked at me and asked, it was just… soft _and_ hard, but also warm and comforting. I…I haven't felt that in a long time…" she whispered the last part to herself.  
Brawynn said nothing, only placed a wing on her charge's face. Zelda leaned into it as they both watched the sun set.


	2. King Argorok

** Chapter 2: King Argorok  
**

Link hurried home as fast as his shoes could carry him, his mind riddled with many questions and his hands carrying the blue chest. This… wolf… Kwami… whatever, was curled up in the box like a little doghouse. For crying out loud, not only did this thing jump him into fighting the Cucco Queen with some magical things - which while cool, life or death was on the line! - and saving a girl and his apparent partner, he wanted some answers!  
He greeted his mom as he burst into the house and bolted into his room, throwing off his backpack and slamming the box onto his desk (miraculously, the box didn't break from the force of it), opening it to have the Kwami roll out onto its back.  
"Alright, mutt. Start talking." He glowered, not falling for the cute act anytime soon.  
"But Bobo, why are you so -" the fairy creature looked closer at him, and began whining like he was just kicked for no good reason.  
Link flinched, he didn't think his intimidation was that good, but he tried to console the Kwami. "L…look, I'm not this Bobo or whatever. My name is Link, what's yours?"  
The evergreen-colored pup stared up at him with big eyes for a moment before responding, "My name's Bleddyn! I'm the Kwami of Courage!" The pup's tail was going a meter a moment.  
"Courage… yeah. And I'm guessing that you made me into the… 'Sheikhan Wolf'?"  
"Yup!" Bleddyn's tail wagged faster, "You an' me an' Athy are gonna save the world! It'll be like when I did it with Bobo and his Athy!"  
"So… this is a generational thing." Several tropes related to such went through Link's head as he started to piece things together, "And I'm the new one. What qualifications do I have that allow me to become Sheikhan Wolf?"  
"I mistook you for Bobo, that was why I picked you!" Well at least the little guy's honest.  
"Ok, then… what else can Sheikhan do?" Link asked. "I can't just swing the sword all the time and expect it to work."  
"You can pull stuff!" Bleddyn flipped in the air and floated. Seeing Link's blank look, he sighed and his eyes went sharp. "You can pull out a necessary item to beat a Gufuu from the pouch at your waist. More often it's random, but it's always practical."  
Link gaped at the shift of the Kwami's tone. And eyes. And pretty much everything. _'Is this the same person… dog… Kwami thing?'_ He thought while blinking in confusion. "Wait, why didn't you act like this earlier?"  
"I just woke up and thought I saw my old friend. I was happy!"  
 _'No wonder people dislike companions in games so much… goddesses help me figure out what to do with this guy.'_ Link let out a huff-sigh as he tried to figure out what in Hyrule to do about this whole superhero thing. "Ok, what else can Sheikhan do?"  
"You have control over the winds!" Bleddyn switched back to his cheerful demeanor. "You could feel that going on when you dove at the big bird."  
"Ooh… makes sense, I guess. If I'm gonna be working with someone who can fly I gotta keep up _somehow_. So how much of the control is conscious versus unconscious or impulsive?"  
"All depends on training!" Bleddyn said, floating about. "Though that thingy you used today was pretty helpful." He zoomed into to the purple bag and Link stared at the bag, expecting it to blow up. After a minute, Bleddyn floated back over to him, and sat on the blue chest. "Okay, it's part of your normal inventory now."  
"Ravio is going to kill me," Link groaned quietly as he pushed some of dirty blond hair out of his face.  
"Nah, you're good. It'll just be attached to your belt. The original is still in that bag."  
"Oh thank Nayru," Link sighed in great relief, "I would've had to sell a kidney to pay Ravio back."  
"Why's that?" Bleddyn gave him a confused look.  
"Let's just say Ravio's services aren't cheap… sometimes I think it has to do with his so-called connections and I worry…" Link shuddered. "Anything else?"  
"For now?" Bleddyn's eyes grew sharp once more. "Pumpkin."  
"...what?"  
"I. Want. Pumpkin." The kwami stressed each word. "Pie, ice cream, cupcakes, I don't care! We work together, I get pumpkin goodies to recharge."  
 _'Why couldn't it be fall right now? Everything but the kitchen sink is pumpkin spice during that time, I could totally be in the clear until winter!'_ Link thought as he wracked his brain to figure out what in the world to feed the little guy. "Can I get a few minutes to figure out how to get your pumpkin… whatever?" He asked tentatively.  
"Considering the Gufuu is still out there? Not likely."  
" _What?_ Athena shot it right in the head, I saw it myself! How can it still be out there!?"

"What do you mean we had to hit it twice?!" Zelda shrieked as she put her nightgown on.  
Brawynn was on the nightstand with a bag of seeds, nibbling away. "Athena and Sheikhan Wolf are a team. That includes purification of the Gufuu and the purging. Don't blame yourself or him. It was your first battle, mistakes can happen."  
 _'Not for me, I can't_ afford _to make mistakes!'_ Zelda thought as she debated tearing her nightgown off to get her day clothes back on, "Can we find it?"  
"More than likely no." the bird kwami sighed. "It won't be found until it causes havoc again."  
Zelda whined and unceremoniously flopped face first into her bed and pillows with a groan, "This isn't going to end well, I just know it!" Though her voice was muffled by her goose down pillows, the statement came out pretty clearly.  
Brawynn sighed and floated onto Zelda's head "Fretting over it won't do you any good. Rest now."  
"Okay…" Zelda muttered, "could you move first so that I don't squish you while turning over?"  
Brawynn giggled and flew to the corner of the bed, nestling into a pillow. "Good night, Zelda."  
"Good… night, Brawynn..." Zelda dozed off, her mind filled with many anxious thoughts.

A new day had dawned, and Zelda was up as the blue sky glinted. A smile on her face and nothing to stop her.  
She was going to school. As in, she was going to public school. Giving herself a once over in the mirror, she quadruple checked to make sure everything looked okay together. _'Baby blue frilly jersey top? Check. Slightly loose, pale… I think periwinkle? Anyway, slightly loose jeans of an indeterminate color that compliments my top? Check. Hair up in a ponytail to show I'm all business? Check! Blue ombre scarf to hide my magical choker? Check. Now for my lucky charm…'_ she paused as she looked over at Brawynn, "How am I going to sneak you into school?"  
Brawynn floated over her ensemble, before pointing to her bag. "While it might not be roomy, it's more preferable than a cage."  
Zelda picked it up and examined it. It was a canvas messenger bag that was various lavender hues done up in a repeated triangle pattern, she remembered buying it on impulse some weeks earlier thinking she would need it for public school one day. Guess she was right after all. "We'll both have to be careful then due to my books," she then opened it up and examined the inside further, "but there's a small pocket here I can leave some seeds in for you!"  
"And I thank you for your gracious offering." The Kwami smiled. "Shall we?"  
"Let's! Brawynn, spread your wings!"  
One transformation later had Athena soaring through the skies. _'I'll never get tired of this feeling.'_ The thermals made her rise above the buildings. A small part of her wanted to walk down with them, but right now was not the best time. Harkinian Academy was closing in, and time was running out. 'Just a few more meters and I'm in the clear!' She touched down in a nearby alleyway and released her transformation. As Brawynn got comfortable in the bag, Zelda sped down the sidewalk into the school courtyard, and then -  
"ZELDA. MOIRA. CALLAGHAN!" Boy wasn't that voice all too familiar… and livid. Impa came storming into view looking a little worse for wear, if anything it looked more like she decided to jump over all the buildings between the manor and the school to make it here.  
(Well she did, a la parkour, but that's besides the point)  
"Impa!? How did - you're suppose to be - how!?" Zelda skidded to a stop as her constant chaperone loomed in on her.  
"You'd be surprised what I can be capable of when I find that my boss's daughter had fled to try and attend public school again despite his wishes!"  
"But…but Impa!" _'Hindsight, why didn't you see this coming?!'_  
"No buts, Zelda! You're a teenager, not a child, that excuse won't work." Impa snapped.  
"Impa?" The two of them stopped as they heard a third come into the fray. She was a tall but stocky woman, wearing a smooth black open blazer over a white blouse. She wore a skirt that went to her ankles, and three bangles on each arm. Her face was soft, but it could be stern at a moment's notice. Her most distinguishing feature was something Zelda recognized very well: ombre red dreadlock braids tied in a ponytail. "It's been a long time."  
"Telma..."  
"Telma?" Zelda repeated softly in confusion. _'Telma must be that third person from Impa's picture. Her hair has won against the test of time.'_  
Telma's gaze fell on Zelda, and her eyes brightened. "Well, aren't you a sight. Little Zelda all grown up! Come here and give your Auntie Telma a hug."  
"Okay?" With obvious apprehension, the young blonde went over to the older redhead and awkwardly hugged her. Telma embraced her hard into her bosom and spun her around.  
"Just look at you sweetie, you're the spitting image of Hylia." She laughed.  
Zelda would have responded, but right now she was having trouble breathing. _'Goddesses… spare… me…!'_ Where was a hero when she needed one.  
"Telma, release her. Her face is going to go as blue as her scarf at this rate." Impa sighed in a mildly amused manner at her old friend's antics with her charge.  
Telma huffed, but let her go, the young girl taking hearty deep breaths. "So, decided to come to school, sweetheart?"  
Zelda bit her lower lip just a tad and looked over at Impa, "Um… j-just a tour. I think? Dad insists on being homeschooled so I'm not sure if I'll be able to come."  
Impa stepped forward. "Actually, we were just leaving."  
Zelda looked disheartened, catching the redhead's eye.  
"Now hold on right there, honey." Telma prodded a finger into Impa's shoulder. "You honestly think that no-good lunk knows what's best for Hylia's daughter?"  
Impa stared at her old friend. "It's out of my hands."  
"That's right, girlfriend." Telma smirked and grabbed Zelda by the waist. "And she's in mine, now."  
"Huh?!" was the collective reaction as Zeda was carried into the school at a fast pace.  
"Telma, get back here!" Impa ran after them, but the doors quickly closed with them on the other side. "TELMA!"  
"See you after school, Twiggy! Let's catch up!"  
"I am in so much trouble." Zelda stated with a nervous laugh laced through her words. _'Oh goddesses I'm going to be locked away in a tower like in fairy tales because of this.'_  
"Now don't you worry about Impa, Zelda. She's as stubborn as they come." Temla comforted, righting the young girl's stance. "Your mother was the only one to break through that headstrong attitude of hers." The older woman smiled. "Now come on. Let's get you registered into class."  
"She was?" Zelda looked up at her with a rather doe-eyed expression. Except for a few tidbits here and there, nobody ever really talked _to_ her about her mom. Then she heard the part about class and got jittery. _'I get to go to class!'_ She thought with a big smile.

-

Link was staring intently at his smartphone trying to find any place that sold anything made from, out of or that tasted like pumpkins outside of fall. This search was not going over all that well, only able to find pumpkin pies under supermarket names, meaning they were generic as all get out and he worried that just store-bought might send Bleddyn in a fit. It was hard to tell because he could be happy one moment then the opposite at the drop of a hat. _'He makes_ cats _look less moody…'_  
As Link worked on his searching, the rest of the classroom was buzzing with excitement and curiosity. Some students from the college got footage of 'two mysterious masked people' taking down the monster that had suddenly materialized on the grounds, which caused several speculations, debates and people quick to take sides on whether they're real heroes or if it was all staged for their ego.  
The class was split up as so:  
Thinking the duo heroes is Darunia, Lana (but it's a closeted choice), Agitha, Hilda and Saria.  
Those who think them ego-strokers are Cia, Stalworth, and Groose.  
Everyone else was pretty neutral about it. Ravio wondered if he could make a few super shiny Rupees out of merchandise though.  
And that's when the door to the classroom opened and Miss Telma stepped in with a very special guest at her side.  
"Rise and shine, ya slackers! I've brought a new student for you all."  
Due to Miss Telma being a force of nature within the walls of the school, even Cia was quick to turn her attention on hearing the teacher speak.  
"This here is a late entry to the class, but you better treat her right or else! Meet Zelda Callaghan." Miss Temla smiled wide. Zelda herself had a light blush from the embarrassing attention.  
Link just about dropped his phone. _'Did she say…!?'_  
"Zellie, darling!" Cia squeed while trying to flag her 'friend' down as though she was a taxi cab, "I'm so glad you could make it!"  
And while all the guys stared slack-jawed, Hilda praying for Zelda surviving the day and Nabooru analyzing their new classmate, Link was pretty sure his heart just stopped. Zelda Callaghan, his puppy-love-turned-crush-turned-hard(er)-crush was standing right there. In _his_ classroom. She was going to _his_ school. Out of nervousness he pulled his hood up and hoped that nobody, especially her, would notice.  
Zelda turned away and looked at Link, and he felt his throat clench up. She waved at him and quickly used Hylian Sign Language to say hi to him. He responded quickly back with the same hand signs and was also pretty sure that Ravio, who was no more than 3 feet away from him in this class, was going to use this moment to relentlessly tease him until they were in their graves.  
"Mmm… there's a spot in the back and to the right there, why not park your stuff there for the time being hun?" Telma suggested as she motioned to aforementioned empty seat.  
Zelda nodded and headed over after Telma gave her one final (and not TOO breath-stopping) hug. She noticed Nabooru was across from her and gave a shy but friendly hand wave and smile, to which she got a nod of confirmation from the teenaged redhead.  
 _'SAME. SECTION. OF DESKS. AS ME. BUT BEHIND ME. GODDESSES.'_ Link's internal panic continued to rise. He felt his phone buzz and saw Ravio sent a message, as indicated by the Rupee with edited-in rabbit ears icon.  
R: [Dude, why are you so tense? Is it because Zelda's here?]  
R: [It is, isn't it?]  
R: [Wow, thirsty much? XD]  
L: [Not now, Rav.]  
R: [IT TOTALLY IS! That's why you're denying it]  
R: [Give it up man, she's an heiress and you're gonna be up to your neck in programing codes]  
L: [Rav, I can hurt you, and no backup connections can help]  
D: [What r u guys typing about?]  
R: [This was suppose to be private...whoops! Reflex I guess?] (Followed by a sweatdrop emote)  
L: [Ravio. I'm warning you.]  
R: [I'm kind of friends with Hilda, dude, I could hook you two up~]  
D: [uh, bros?]  
R: [Yeah?]  
D: [what was the hand movements Link did when she passed by?]  
R: [...That is a GOOD question Darunia]  
R: [Link, what'd she do and why was it directed at you?]  
L: [Just saying hi in our own way]  
R: [So it's some weird gang sign or something? ARE YOU 2 IN A GANG? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? I THOUGHT WE HAD SOMETHING SPECIAL!] (Followed by an overdramatic sigh emote)  
L: [You have room to talk, mr. contraband.]  
R: [Shush, how else am I gonna get us those foreign candies we like to eat during lunches?]  
L: [Oh, how about LEGALLY?!]  
D: [You're not grunting bro, so we can't consider that a possibility]  
R: [Yeah, what Darunia said!]  
R: [...Wait what?]  
D: [Link always grunts at least when he's frustrated about something.]  
R: [Oh yeah… huh, you're right. He does! So why not now?]  
L: [...can't say.]  
R: [Oh come on! It's not like you'll explain over lunch or something, at least here it's private!] (Followed by an annoyed emoticon)  
"Mr. Jäger-Hayashi," came the shrill voice of a short elderly woman in the front, Miss Koume the chemistry teacher. "Please read the combustible compounds of our atmosphere."  
Zelda bit back an exclamation of objection on hearing Miss Koume ask that of Link, who she has known to be mute thanks to his habit of being silent around her ever since they were kids. He couldn't read off equations, he could only sign them! Instead she thought for a moment then raised her hand.  
"Yes, what is it, Miss Callaghan?" Miss Koume raised a brow in annoyance.  
"Link is mute, so why are you asking him such?" She asked in all sincerity.  
This caused the classroom to erupt with laughter (except Darunia and Ravio, who were in 'silent and very worried friends' mode, and Cia for some unknown reason) and for Link to slowly slide down his seat while wishing the ground would consume him and let him become a fossil. At least until Koume got everyone's attention with a loud "QUIET!"  
"I assure you, Miss Callaghan, Link is sometimes anything but mute. Especially when Ravio and Darunia are his partners for anything." Retorted the teacher, glaring at the heiress and he who wished to be in space so nobody could hear him scream. "Mr. Jäger-Hayashi, the compounds **please**!"  
Link sat up as quickly as he could and, after a hard gulp and trying to imagine Zelda NOT sitting some desks behind him, found he couldn't. He just couldn't. He opened his mouth and tried to form the words he needed but nothing came out. At all. Not even a whimper of defeat.  
"Miss Koume, is it okay if I take Link to the nurse's?" Ravio asked quickly, already out of his seat, dragging Link along before he could even get an answer, "Okay thanks bye!" He stated with haste before shutting the door behind him. "Okay, now do you wanna explain what's going on?" He asked with a serious tone as he continued to forcibly take his friend to the nurse's office.  
"I can't help it!" Link gasped, relieved to hear his own voice. "Whenever I'm around her, my voice won't come out. Eventually, she learned sign language because she thought I was mute," he groaned.  
"That's oddly sweet," Ravio stopped a few feet from the office, "but you need to work on actually talking to her. Now you're _both_ laughingstocks in chem class. Go in there and chill, I'll come back with class notes at lunch. Got it?"  
Link nodded and stepped into the nurse's office. Entering, he saw a willowy woman with pale skin and green hair that was pulled back into a simple braided ponytail, her bright hazel green eyes looking at him with concern, "What's wrong?" Her voice could soothe a raging beast, helped that it seemed to be in tune with the soft background music she was playing.  
Link had to remember to use words since he was a bit blindsided by her, "Uh, I felt kinda sick so can I stay here a while?"  
"Of course you can. My door is always open to those in need. Simple call for Nurse Raine if you need anything."  
"Thank you, ma'am!" Link hurried to one of the beds and laid down on it with a soft groan. _'The past 48 hours haven't been kind.'_  
After several minutes of silence (minus the atmosphere music) between the nurse and the put-upon student, she said she had to tend to something elsewhere and left him be for the time being.  
Link sighed until heard a low growling. Opening up his jacket, Bleddyn floated above his face with a look none too pleased.  
 _'What is it NOW?'_ Link thought, holding his annoyance back to speak, "What's up?"  
"Take a guess." Bleddyn deadpanned.  
"Pumpkin something?"  
"Pumpkin anything at this point."  
"Bleddyn, we're in school, I can't just walk out and buy you some. I'd get in trouble with the staff here, my parents back home and goddesses know who else!" Link huffed softly.  
"You'll get in real trouble if that Gufuu shows up. And I do not want Athena going at it alone!"  
Link pursed his lips together and stared at the Kwami of Courage in calculating thought. _'On that note he's right, since the Gufuu ended up getting away from us it'll probably show up again here soon. On the other hand, I can't just up and walk out of here to buy something for him, I only have my lunch money and Nayru knows where I can find some place that has pumpkin things for sale near school grounds!'_  
At that moment, a small burlap pouch slipped underneath the curtain to the adjacent bed. As it landed, there was a rattling coming from inside.  
"What. In. Hyrule." Link's voice took on its own deadpan tone as he gathered up the sudden gift and took a peek inside.  
It was pumpkin seeds. Bleddyn caught a whiff and looked in as well, and his gasp was apparent. "PUMPKIN! SWEET SAVORY PUMPKIN! Come to Bleddy, baby!"  
"What the -" Link muttered as he watched Bleddyn dive in the bag and consume the seeds with reckless abandon, shells flying everywhere due to how messy an eater he was. "Um, thanks?" He stated to whomever was behind the curtain.

-

Medli sighed as she walked around the debris from the day before, her memories playing back of what happened. She talked with Professor Jäger, and while it helped, she still felt guilty about the whole ordeal.  
"Hey! Medli!" She heard someone call out to her.  
She snapped out of her memories on hearing the voice, "Komali!" She ran forward and met him in a hug, thought there was a tad bit of tripping due to a loose particle of debris.  
Komali caught her before she ended up stumbling further, his crimson eyes looking at her in a gentle and thoughtful way, "What are you doing out here, my dear?"  
"Oh, I was just… thinking…" she wasn't completely lying, she was thinking about what had happened. She sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder, blowing some of his white locks out of his face with no avail.  
Komali sniggered slightly before moving the hair which bothered her so, "Come on Medli, I know that tone… and face… and what you do when you're upset." He leaned in and kissed her cheek while rubbing a small circle in her upper back.  
She sighed softly and looked at him straight in the face, "I still feel terrible over what happened. Doesn't help that the videos spread like wildfire online either… I'm being reminded of it every other hour, I swear!"  
He let out a hum of thought and touched his tanned forehead to her fair skinned one, "That wasn't you, though. It was a malevolent energy that took advantage of you. I know you, my melodic Medli, and you wouldn't harm a fly even if it was buzzing and annoying you to no end."  
Medli's own red eyes softened at his gaze and stared at him in silence for about a minute before speaking again, "Thank you…"  
"For what?" He asked, highly confused.  
"For believing in me and standing by me despite what happened." She added softly.  
"No force in Hyrule could ever change my mind. The moon could come crashing down for all I care and I'd _still_ stand by you!"  
Medli giggled a bit and gave him a soft, sweet kiss, which he gladly returned.  
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the _lovebirds_."  
Komali and Medli looked and saw a group of students lead by a short man with blue hair.  
"Lay off, Cawlin." Komali glared at him while holding Medli close to him.  
"Or what, you're gonna sick your girlfriend on me?" Cawlin sneered at the two of them as he waited for a response.  
Medli felt the sensation to cry start to swell up, but she wasn't going to give Cawlin the satisfaction on seeing her break down. "And if he does?" She retorted sharply.  
"Then I guess the school will be shut down, AND kick the two of you out on the streets, ya pigeons!"  
Both sets of ruby red eyes glared at him, though Komali's was much harder in comparison to his beloved's.  
"Cawlin, I'm warning you -" Komali started before Medli screamed. She was pointing in the air, and they saw the floating eye. Its crimson gaze beat down and unnerved them. Cawlin let out a small, high-pitched squeal of terror and ran away flailing a little with his cronies following behind.  
"Medli, run!" Komali shouted as he grabbed her hand and dashed out of the campus, the Gufuu following after them with intent. He looked back to see it starting to dive at her, so in an effort to keep her safe he effectively pulled her forward then pushed her ahead of him. It kept _her_ safe, but now… he ended up with a Gufuu to the back.  
"Komali!" Medli shrieked, as her boyfriend strained and collapsed.  
Komali could barely breathe as whatever it was has entered him. Then a voice echoed in his mind.  
 **"Hm, not what I intended, but... oh, you'll do just nicely. I am Boarova, boy. You feel weak because you can't properly protect your princess, but I can make you into something that can. All you need to do get me something in return."**  
"...do it." Komali uttered, before forcing his head to look at Medli's tearful eyes. _'I'm sorry…'_  
 **"Splendid. Now go, Argorok King, and bring me the Miraculous!"**  
Medli could only watch as her beloved was covered in black scales and started to grow, her screams were only drowned out by the echoing roar.

-

Lunchtime. A time where students can talk loudly (if not caught) and also stuff their faces at the same time. It can also be a good way to hear gossip from other classes. Unless you're Zelda, in which case you've taken to hiding away in the most deserted area to avoid seeing anyone after that incident in chemistry class. Hilda and Agitha were with her, though it was more a precautionary thing than anything. Hilda was good at keeping people away with just a glare, which is what Zelda really needed right now. Agitha's excited talk about what bugs she had seen recently were also of some amusement as well, if not worrying, like the comment about ants and rice. She hadn't seen Link since Ravio suddenly spirited him away to the nurse's office. _'Goddesses, what else can happen today?'_ She thought with a sigh.  
That was one of those things one should never ask, even in one's head, as Zelda would soon come to realize.  
A hand slammed on the table, startling the three out of their slump. "Hello buggy, creepy, and _Zellie._ " That tone indicated blatant hostility to Zelda and she had to remind herself to keep steady when it came to handling Cia.  
"Hello, Cia." Zelda straightened her posture out and folded her hands in her lap, "What brings you here?"  
"I'm not sure how many hoops you had to jump through to get here, but let me tell you a few things: Number one, this is my school, I run things. Not you. Number two, I'm not sure what you did to Link, but he is mine, and it's only a matter of time before he's screaming my name."  
"I made no point in trying to take your spot, nor is Link an item you possess. I am not your enemy, Cia, I only wish to experience what public school is like." Zelda retorted with an even tone, but boy was her gaze icy. Even Hilda was shrinking back a bit with Agitha.  
Cia was not so fazed.  
" _Ohhhohohoho!_ " She laughed harshly, gaining attention from the rest of the cafeteria, including the 3 bros Link, Ravio, and Darunia. "Well aren't you just a little _princess._ "  
Zelda's lips frowned in a mild scowl, _'At least_ I _don't laugh like some snobby royal. Did she train herself to laugh like that? Goddesses, this woman!'_ She thought, but kept that comment to herself. "Cia, I only wish to live a normal high school life like any other girl. I want to be treated the same as our other classmates. No special circumstances, no perks, I just want something resembling a peaceful time here." _'Stay calm, stay calm, don't let her_ get _to you…'_  
"No special circumstances? Says the girl with the worthless guardian."  
"You take that back!" That got Zelda to her feet with a rather resounding yell.  
That got the entire cafeteria to go eerily quiet… Zelda glared furiously at Cia, who held a smug grin.  
Link was distracted from taking his notes at their argument, choking on his sandwich, which Darunia quickly worked on fixing with a few strong slaps on the back. The chill in the air was only halted by a strange rattling of glass that continued to get louder until all the windows broke, instantly causing chaos among the student body! Strange human-sized, lizard like creatures with weapons were screeching about as the students screamed, their bodies lifted with the flapping of wings and an inhuman cackling or two.  
 _'The Gufuu!?'_ Link and Zelda thought as they tried to find places to assume their heroic personas despite the maelstrom of fright.  
The rest of the student body was in terror as the creatures grabbed and carried them out kicking and screaming. The screaming was heightened as an even larger creature soared just above the large skylight.  
"That… was not a bird." Link muttered as he tried to get Ravio and Darunia away, only for the aerial lizard-like foes to grab them. "Guys!"  
"Get out of here, brother!" Darunia yelled, trying to force himself out of the creature's grasp.  
"We'll think of something, you just get to safety!" Ravio shouted, before biting the creature's arm (regretting it soon after due to the taste) and pounding on it as hard and fast as he could.  
Link froze for but a moment before following his friends' advice. _'Don't worry guys, I'll get us out of this.'_  
Zelda had witnessed the same happen to Agitha and Hilda, though she too almost became a victim until she managed to headbutt her would-be captor. She also made a note never to do that again.  
 _'Maybe the bathroom?'_ The teen heroes thought in near sync as they ran there to transform. As luck would have it, they ended up going to bathrooms on opposite sides of each other. However a scream distracted Link and resulted in him heading outside to see what was going on now.  
Zelda opened her bag and looked at Brawynn with worry, "Is that the same one or a different one?"  
"Chances are it is the one from the day before. It may remember us, stay on your guard."  
"Got it. Brawynn, spread your wings!"

-

Link was able to get out just in time to see the chaos. The streets were crawling with the winged lizards and people were panicking. He could see the giant creature flying towards the park. _'Okay, strong possibility that's where their base of operations is…'_ he shook his hood to wake up the Kwami within. "Hey pumpkin coma, we're on!"  
There was the sound of Bleddyn making a snorting noise on waking up, "Is it the Gufuu?" He asked while floating out and staring around lazily before he noticed the flying lizard people. "Well that's a yes."  
Link took a look around and figured to take cover behind a nearby tree before transforming, "Bleddyn, time to howl!" This time he noticed that the gems on his bracelet went from a peridot-like hue to a deep emerald color when powered up. As he finished, he felt a rumbling in his chest and let it out, a distinctive howl echoing in the the square. _'What in Hyrule was THAT about!?'_ He covered his mouth and really hoped that it **somehow** went unnoticed. As he worked on pretending that didn't happen, Sheikhan Wolf started running to the park in order to figure out what in the world was going on with the Gufuu this time. He felt something smacking him at the waist and saw an exact copy of the clawshot from yesterday… _'Huh, guess Bleddyn was right.'_ He stopped and aimed at a rooftop, and soon he was flying from ledge to ledge by the claw.

-

He was able to dodge the patrols of those things, and made it to the edge of Korok Park, a rather large forest area considered a national prospect due to the ruins located within that histories have figured out to be connected with ancient Hyrule. Said ruins made for good hiding places when the patrollers came around.  
"Okay, just gotta figure out what to do while waiting for Athena… oh boy..."  
"You rang?" A certain voice whispered as the gentle flapping of wings followed.  
Sheikhan turned to look at her with great confusion as she landed, "How did you… it was the howl, wasn't it?"  
Athena didn't say anything, but the forced neutral face and little spark of wanting to laugh in her eyes said it all. She ducked beside him and peeked over the ruins when she didn't hear anything nearby, "What have you gathered so far?"  
"Not much, sadly. These flying geckos seem to be taking every civilian, then the Gufuu went by in a new form. It came to the park, and then you showed up."  
Athena hummed in thought, "Chances are the most heavily-guarded area is where the Gufuu is… which means we have to go in further."  
"Up to the ruins?"  
"Worth a shot." She nodded, "You go left and I go right?"  
Sheikhan hefted the clawshot, then looked at the trees. "First one there?"  
Athena gave her wings a small flap, "Come now, this isn't a competition.. .but yes. Let's also remember to see what this Gufuu needs with humans so badly."  
"Right." He launched the claw into the treeline and slipped away.  
Athena used her wings to glide around to avoid making much noise, along with hiding up in the trees as well. As it turns out these beings don't really look up much, which gave her (and by proxy Link) the advantage.

The Hyrule Ruins, where once stood a mighty castle of monarchy was now a crumbled away structure that had very little semblance of its former glory. The largest fragments of its history were worn walls that sometimes bore writings; if someone managed to find something hidden within the earth it once stood in, it was considered quite the find. Historics have been in and out of the area for decades trying to piece together what the castle once looked like and how it (and the ruling family) fell. For now, it was the secluded domain of an enormous dragon, his red, scaly body covered in black plate armor, his winged minions and those they have gathered from Hyrule's districts.  
As he curled up in a circular area of the ruins, he looked over the crowd of people that was brought to him. His dark eyes scanned over the group when he noticed that the majority of them were high school students fearful and in panic, he let out a low rumble in annoyance, then felt the presence of his master within his mind.  
 **"Appearance are uncanny, Argorok King. Youths are needed by their superiors, do not let it concern you, be concerned for your… 'princess'."**  
The Argorok looked to his side, and saw the limp form of Medli, unconscious from the flight to the ruins. A low growl came from his throat as he nuzzled her with his head.  
 _'No one will hurt you again. I promise.'  
_

Athena touched down outside the worn gate, bearing in mind to keep herself as hidden as possible so that the very large dragon-like creature didn't make a possible meal out of her. _'Where's Sheikhan?'_ She thought while looking at the trees. She double-checked to make sure his form wasn't among the captured, _'Seems he hasn't been caught, thank Nayru… but I'm still worried.' She sighed quietly and forced her mind elsewhere, 'Chances are this… dragon? Is it a dragon? I don't see 4 legs. Regardless, it's gathering up humans for one of a few possible reasons. Feeding, slavery or possibly mining. The purpose could very well also be a combination of the three… we're nowhere near a mine, as far as I know, so it couldn't be that. At this rate feeding seems more likely.'_  
The rattling of chains was heard from behind her and she heard the her partner touch down. "Your wings gave you advantage."  
Athena made no comment about her victory and motioned him to be quiet with the classic finger on lips sign. She then turned her attention back to the gathering place of Argorok to see if that arrow thing from the day before could give her any hint as to what has to be done in order to take him down. _'Come on, strange arrow thing… what do we have to do?'_ Asking her magical vision quirk to work when wanted was not helping.  
"What have we got, Athy?" Sheikhan asked, breaking her concentration.  
Athena looked at him curiously due to the nickname before whispering back, "Nothing yet. Perhaps you will have better luck?"  
Sheikhan slipped his gaze through a missing stone in the wall, seeing the civilians being grouped together by the smaller creatures before the… _'that's a dragon… oh that's not good.'_ His eyes went wide at seeing Darunia and Ravio in the mix. _'Oh no!'_  
"What is it?" Athena whispered on noticing his face changing moods.  
"Shh!" He rasped as he saw the dragon loom its head over the crowd. It started speaking in a guttural language that he could barely make out from the distance. Whatever it was made the creatures back off and the dragon raise its head, maw open. _'No… please Din no!'_ His plea was not heard as the dragon unleashed a black tongued stream of fire that engulfed the civilians. "NOO-mmmfh!" His mouth was covered by Athena's hand, and she too saw the ghastly scene.  
Athena's body trembled a bit as she found herself watching this. She didn't want to. She wanted to cry right there and then, over those who had fallen, over being too late, over failing Hyrule… Brawynn… She lowered her head to hide the tears that were more than threatening to spill out. _'I'm so sorry, Brawynn… Hilda… Agitha… everyone…'_  
Sheikhan could not look away, anger bubbling in his ribs to end this madness once and for all.  
The fires died down and now revealed the fate, no burned corpses, but instead a new legion of those creatures.  
"Goddesses..." He whispered, bringing Athena's attention back to the scene. She held her breath at the realization.  
"He's making an army." She said. She saw Sheikhan head for the gates, sword drawn and fist clenched. "Sheik!" She whispered, trying to get his attention. "What are you doing! Get back here! Sheik!" Given how he was ignoring her pleas, she found herself going after him to make sure he didn't actually die this time. She wasn't going to let yesterday repeat itself!  
Sheikhan slammed the gate open, drawing the attention of the horde. The dragon's body shifted slightly, but it remained steadfast.  
"Hi! Dovah! Fos suleyk rahlo zeim hi tol lorot hi pruz wey jul ahrk imaar niin ol vostahdim ulfah fah braag!? Daar gral fen ni kos tholah fah naan lingrahiik! Vensekos wo hi los ful tol Zu'u mindok faan do wo Zu'u fen oblaan daar sul!" (1)  
Athena stared at her companion, mouth slightly opened. 'What. In. Hyrule. Was that even Hyrulian? At all?'  
The dragon spread its wings and snarled, the creatures in between flapped their own wings in desire to fight. But another snarl from the dragon halted them. The Argorok stood, winged flexed with the clattering of his armor, then stared down at the heroes before him with a guttural noise emanating from its maw.  
 ** _"Rek wo kodaav faan do Ekrah ahrk ek Grohiik lost bo. Dii In tolaan wah ofaal hin suleyk, wel hin lahney los wah kos vokrent los do nid volzahdroz wah zey. Ont Zu'u lost jakah dii wund, dii suleyk fen hiiv pah kahtu do himdah wah jaaril gein closest wah dii hil. NID FUS VIS VUTH ZEY, FAAL ARGOROK JUN! OFAN VOK HIN MIRACULOUS WAH ZEY!"_** (2)  
"He talked!? And what did he say? What did _either_ of you say!? Goddesses, speak Hylian!" Athena groaned rather loudly.  
Sheikhan once again didn't hear her. "Your desires will remain unfulfilled, beast."  
 _'About time someone spoke a language that's understandable.'_ Athena thought with a huff.  
The Argorok King sneered. **_"Hin Ekrah fon honvu wah prudaav vun, Grohiik."_** it stomped on the ground and roared. **_"Aazrii tol hin onikaan los ful zah. Aerafols, Iidah!"_** (3)  
The now-named Aerafols converged on the two, Sheikhan's sword at the ready until a pair of arms got around his waist and started flying him up into the sky.  
"You've lost it! _Completely_ lost it!" Athena chided, "We had the advantage of surprise and you _blew_ it to pieces, Sheik!"  
"This goes beyond stealth right now, Athena!"  
"And what makes you say _that_?" Her tone was eerily cold on asking.  
"This… _monster_ … doesn't care who he has to use, and doesn't care who gets hurt! He's using friends and family as fodder!" Sheikhan snarled.  
"As is _he_! As will _we_ if we fall in battle!" Athena berated, while dodging the Aerafols. "You think my stomach didn't drop when I saw that? You think I didn't want to curl up in a ball somewhere and cry until I couldn't anymore!? We have to be tactful in these fight, Sheik, or we'll not _only_ lose our powers but _everyone_ we ever cared about in the process!"  
"...He also called you stupid."  
"...I'll hit him for that, but only _after_ you've cool down!" She put her wounded ego on the bench for the time being until her partner's had eased.  
Sheikhan grumbled while kicking at one of the flying lizards.  
"You know, we do have to fight these guys… and they say hitting things can be a great stress reliever." Athena stated in a more calming tone than she had previously.  
"Yeah, but here's the _real_ question, Athy:" Sheikhan grasped the clawshot and hit one of the lizards a ways off. "Can you throw a punch?" He let the question hang as the chain pulled him out of her arms and he kicked the targeted Aerafols.  
"Oh trust me, there's been plenty of things in my life that have deserved a punch." Athena free-fell a bit before tackling another Aerafols, the force of such causing the winged lizard person to go falling quite a ways down. "That felt pretty good!" _'It's wrong of me to hope that specific one was Cia… but I'll dwell on the guilt when I'm not in the middle of a battle.'_  
Sheikhan leaped off of another Aerafols as he tried to stop his descent. The clawshot was really useful, but he didn't want to use his sword, just in case… _'wait, maybe I can pull an item that can help me!'_ He dodged another strike as he felt for the pouch the size of a fanny pack. "Here goes nothing: Item charge!" Sticking his hand in the pouch, he felt something in his hand and pulled it out revealing… another clawshot? _'Bleddyn?! What the - why another one?!'_ He screamed in his head, before another Aerafols grabbed him from behind in a very strong grip. _'Either that's Darunia, or Cia's gotten too friendly.'_ He took aim with both clawshots and struck their targets, pulling them towards him, and then pulling out of the grip in time so all three crashed into each other. "Ha!"  
The Argorok King snarled at the scene. He could feel his master's presence building.  
 **"You are stalling, boy. I can just as easily pluck your power and return it to your princess."**  
 **_"Nid…Nid! Zu'u fen ni verut ek tahriik!"_** (4)  
 **"How sentimental… but you will play your part or else!"**  
The dragon writhed as he felt his body being torn apart from the inside, as though his very soul was being torn to shreds by some unholy beast's claws and teeth. With a bellow of agony and some fire escaping into the sky above, the Gufuu'ed being yielded to Boarova's demand and rose from his 'throne' to deal with the heroes himself.  
"Sheikhan, dragon at 12 o'clock, and closing in quickly!" Athena yelled as she kicked an Aerafols away.  
Sheikhan Wolf looked ahead and saw the Argorok come at him, the sudden instance threw him off the Aerafols as he fell to the ground. He shouted in panic, and activated the clawshot by reflex, the chain launching and grasping on the brass club-like tail of the dragon.  
"AHHHHHH!"  
 ** _"Gaar dii slov, reimokur!"_** (5)  
"Hang on!" Taking a deep breath Athena flew after the dragon and wolf-themed teen, doing various aerial dodging stunts to avoid more oncoming enemies, then grabbed Sheikhan Wolf by his waist. "Release the clawshot's head, we're moving this fight to the ground!" That's when she noticed that there was something with a reflective surface on the ground, "Along with investigate what's down there." She added with a semi-coherent mumbling.  
Sheikhan, with a miffed grumble, released his clawshot's hold from the Argorok King's tail and also acted as a second pair of eyes to alert Athena when to dodge any enemies coming at them from behind. He inhaled sharply on seeing their main problem flying after them with a snapping jaw, "Athena, step on it!"  
"I'm trying!" She started to fly in zig-zags to avoid becoming lunch during the descent. Then she had an idea. It was probably going to be not the best of them, but with a dragon nearly nipping at her heels and having a partner in her arms she wasn't sure what else she _could_ do. "Sheikhan, I'm apologizing in advance for this action. Forgive me when possible."  
"I'm going to not like this, am I?"  
"Depends on how you feel about free-falling."  
"I'm not going to like this one bit."  
"Hence apologizing in advance."  
"Look out!" He had his clawshot hit Argorok on the nose to keep him at bay at least for a while.  
"You ready to fall?"  
"I have to be at this point!"  
Athena let her grip fail as she flew out of Argorok's maw, and Sheikhan was falling to the broken stone below.  
 _'Okay Bleddyn, really hoping that wind control thing also means avoiding my death with it!'_ He figured the most logical thing to do first was to hold his hands out in front of him and hope that wind would follow. _'Come on, you mutt, wind powers… Oh come on, Wind: AWAKEN!'_  
On this command the winds surrounding him started to pick up and swirl around his arms, the force being up at the heel of his palms as he kept them pointed at the earth that was steadily approaching. _'Control it, control it!'_ He gritted his teeth while trying to increase the wind's power enough to keep himself from getting hurt but also not sending him flying away in the process. As the ground was started to get closer and closer he let out a war cry (mostly out of panic) as he thrusted his hands out. The winds massed into a ball-like shape just before he hit the ground, suspending him there before he straightened his body out and flicked his wrists to cease the control. There was some minor-but-temporary pain from the landing but all in all he was intact. "Ow… okay, needs practice. Got it."  
That was when he noticed a familiar figure asleep some yards away. "Medli!" He ran over and tried to rouse her, "Medli wake up! The Gufuu, it might get you while you're like this!" _'Actually, why_ hasn't _it gotten you while you're like this?'_ Above he heard the roar of Argorok and Athena's own battle cries as she dueled with it. He tried to catch a glimpse through the trees, "Come on Athy… you can do it. You'd be able to fly circles around him since you have more mobility."  
Athena has learned a few things in this day while fighting this new Gufuu. She can indeed launch arrows without the powering up sequence, they were golden colored and did some damage on their own despite no purification qualities. She also learned that it's very hard to shoot her bow when her wings are what keep her afloat. She's had to switch between shooting and free-falling then flying over and over again. She really needed to bring this guy on the ground so she could face him properly. But how to taunt a dragon? She noticed the Argorok King's head leered towards the ground, and after dodging more of the flying lizards, she saw Sheikhan kneeling beside… _Medli_?  
 _'What's she doing here?! Was she just kidnapped? Sheik, get her out of there!'_ Athena then had to dodge another snap of his jaw and ended up running alongside his armored back. That's when her arrow vision pointed to the weak spot on his back, the same gold-enameled red eye that was on the Helmaroc Queen the day before. "That's it!" She gasped as she started flying again. _'Now I just need to force this guy to land and, with Wolfie's help, we can finally purify this thing!'_  
At the moment, the Argorok King's head turned to the ground, and its voiced thundered in alarm. **_"Medli! Fey Hond Nol Ek, Tingrol!"_** (6)  
"Oh Din. Better move!" Sheikhan quickly picked up the slumbering woman and started running for cover. This only caused Argorok to start going after him. "OH GODDESSES!"  
"Hang on, I'm coming!" Athena put her hands in front of her like she was diving in water and flapped her wings as hard as she could. Her flying past the large dragon made him pause in confusion for a short while before picking up his chase. Once on the ground, Athena took out her bow and shot at the armored Gufuu to cover her partner and the sleeping one in his arms.  
"Shoot shoot shoot shoot!" Sheikhan stammers as he ran through the debris carrying Medli on his back and the dragon made its way back around. "Cut a bit close, huh, Athy?"  
"Hush you! You're the one going after the damsel."  
"Only when I know you can handle it. Any ideas?"  
Athena worked her face a moment before looking at her partner's belt, a sly smile went across her features.  
"Uh… my goddess? What are you doing… oh hey what?!" He jumped back a bit out of her reach as her fingers slipped closer.  
"Oh hush, Wolfie, just let me -"  
"Whoa whoa whoa-!"  
"Oh don't be such a baby, hold still... aaand there!" Athena grinned, hefting the clawshots in her hands.  
Feeling partially violated and rather annoyed, Sheikhan glared at her a little, "So what's your plan now that you've taken my equipment, my goddess?"  
"Recreating the events of yesterday," Athena stated rather quickly before flying off, "thanks for the inspiration!"  
 _'She is not…'_ Sheikhan quickly ducked behind a large tree trunk, set Medli on the ground and watched from their hiding spot. _'No, no, no, no…'_ His eyes widened on seeing her manage to grab the metal on Argorok's tail and start dragging him down. "ATHENA, DON'T!"  
Athena landed with a small grunt as she hit the ground, her shoe talons coming out to give her a more solid stance as she pulled the foe down from the sky. She heard Sheikhan's plea but ignored it. "Almost…!" She muttered as the monster's dark figure loomed closer to her own. With one final tug straight down so came Argorok's tail and body with it, her talons receding to let her jump back.  
Dust and dirt were kicked up, blocking Sheikhan's vision of what happened. His heart began to sink into his stomach as he heard metal clattering. "Athena!" He ran over to the crash site, stumbling here and there, using a quick wrist flick to clear the air. "Athena!?"  
"Over here!"  
He was quick to pick up on where her voice came from and ran over, "You're alive!" He smiled for a split second before he scowled at her, "Don't you dare do that again, I thought you died trying to do that!"  
Athena said nothing at first, she only lowered her head a little, "I will endeavor not to pull a stunt like such again."  
Sheikhan Wolf stared at her a moment before realizing that he had made her go through the same experience not even a full day before, "Hey… I-I'm not…" his voice was soft as he reached out and gently lifted her chin, "Okay, yeah I freaked out but I thought… I thought I had lost you. You… did something very risky. It wasn't smart of you to do that… like how it wasn't when I did it yesterday. I'm sorry, Athy, for putting you through that terror and flipping out on you like that when you showed more tolerance."  
Her only response was hugging him, which was an impulsive move and it left her blushing on realizing what she had done. Boy, was she glad for that mask as she pulled back and cleared her throat, trying to regain her more business-like air.  
He only smiled with a soft chuckle, "I forgive you. Twice."  
"Thank you," she replied softly with a faint smile.  
Sadly their tender moment was interrupted by the aerial reptile force suddenly landing to the ground with shrieks of pain, their forms turning into the fire that transmogrified them until their real forms were left standing for all of 5 seconds before collapsing to the ground. Their leader wasn't looking too hot either, what with the exposed scales and all.  
"Looks like everyone turned out okay…" Athena muttered, looking around to spot her friends.  
"For the most part…" Sheikhan replied, and then noticed Medli coming to. He pardoned himself from Athena, walked over swiftly and helped her up by acting as a crutch for her. "Good to see you again, miss."  
Medli held her head, her eyes blinking into focus before looking at Sheikhan. "You're… that guy from before…!" Her eyes went wide at a realization. "Oh no! Komali!" She forced herself up and tried to walk to the dragon, but was held back.  
"Easy now, we got the drake."  
"No! You don't understand! That's Komali!"  
Sheikhan's eyes went wider than hers. "Wait, _that's_ your boyfriend!?"  
Medli nodded a bit, eyes downcast, "He was trying to defend me while this guy was bugging us, then when we were running away that's when he got possessed."  
"Geez, who in Hyrule makes those things?" Sheikhan muttered. At that moment, the armor pieces melted into dark violet smoke. The civilians that were there started to panic as the smoke condensed into a black ball, and then took on a more human, albeit just as menacing form. It was twice as tall as the heroes, and the smoke formed some semblance to armor. As the three-pronged staff formed in its hand, two glowing red eyes appeared on its face.  
"That would be me." It said, its voice echoing and snarling. "I am Boarova."  
"Boarova?" Our heroes asked.  
The shade's visage smirked. "Athena, Sheikhan Wolf. Your appearance and persistence has been a troublesome thorn in my side. You have one chance to surrender the Miraculous Stones to me. My mercy is not to be trifled with."  
Athena felt her back tense up due to her wings reacting to Boarova's presence. _'No way will I let him use Brawynn, I can sense the evil of his heart right in my very bones!'_ She thought with gritted teeth. Straightening out her shoulders and letting out a deep breath, she walked forward a few steps before she was a few yards away from the shadowy projection.  
"I make no deals with devils, especially ones who send others to do his work," she hissed while her sapphire eyes took on a chilling edge, "someone like you is never to be trusted with power! I will fight until my dying breath to protect my home!" As she spoke she summoned her bow and launched a basic arrow at it, "Begone and know Athena shall not bow to you!"  
Boarova cackled at the girl as the arrow went through the shade with no damage done. "Your conviction means nothing! Wisdom shall be diffused by ignorance, and Courage will be squandered amongst the helpless!" He thrust the trident above his head, red lightning collecting into a ball. "The only thing that is understood is Power! Here! Let me show you!" The lightning ball formed into a spear.  
 _'Wait, that's not a spear -'_ Sheikhan thought and then panicked at the realization, _'it's a -'_  
"Dark Arrow!" The villain roared as it shot through the air with the sound of electric cackles following in its wake.  
Athena dodged to the side as the arrow flew past, but the scent of burning air and the light sound of thunder made her notice that the arrow could move at will. _'Oh great, this is turning out a huge mess!'_  
Sheikhan was doing no better as the bolting arrow jumped around the area, the people present trying to run in panic, only to be halted at the cause of singeing. Throughout this, the shade laughed at their fear-ridden faces, and that just made him angry. Setting Medli down low, he grabbed his sword and charged at Boarova. With a raging howl, the wolf knight struck his sword down, only to pass through the shadow mist.  
"Courage…" sneered Boarova, "Always granted to the greatest of fools." His body dissipated, but with one final hand movement, the arrow flew past Sheikhan -  
And headed straight at the distraught college girl.  
Argorok, having been watching the scene while effectively licking his wounds, saw where the arrow was heading and bounded across the ground as quickly as his wing-arms could carry him. **_"ZU'U FEN NI VOS DII LOKAAL DIR!"_** (7) He screamed as he twisted his form to shield Medli with his body… his weak point soon hit by the dark energies of the projectile. His body convulsed and fell with a loud thump, soon growing still with breath barely going in and out of his maw.  
Nobody dared to breath. Athena covered her mouth in shock with both hands as Sheikhan stated at his still form. Despite the transformation and enslavement, in the end… it was still her he cared about.  
"KOMALI!" Medli screamed as she processed what had happened. She practically threw herself onto Argorok's neck and sobbed, "Komali, please don't go! Komali! Nayru's Love, don't leave me, I love you too much to let you go!"  
That's when the one thing nobody expected happened. His body started to glow and change, his wing-arms starting to become human shaped, as was the rest of his body, as Argorok's form was once that of Komali, now looking as though he was merely asleep instead of taking quite the bullet for his love.  
"Komali?" Meldi whispered hesitantly while she gently touched his cheek, gasping a bit as he groaned and started to stir.  
"Medli?" He choked out, sitting up while rubbing his lower back. He screamed a bit as the Gufuu left his being, but he was feeling worlds better after that little scene happened.  
"Komali!" And then Medli glomped him with tears streaming down her face.  
Silence echoed through the ruins, tears fell from many present, but all was stifled as the dark cackling returned. All eyes returned to the mist reforming into the appearance of the monster.  
"This is far from over, brats!" Boarova hefted the trident and Komali's body surged in pain. He writhed in Medli's grip and broke away, afraid to harm her again, he looked at his arms, his skin was becoming scales again, and his mind began to cloud once more.  
"Stop it! Please!" Medli shouted at Boarova, who only laughed as his form dissipated again, only to fly straight into Komali's back, the eye returning again.  
Komali's screams became a roar, but his body had only changed in skin. The splotchy red scales coated his body, his hands were now razor talons. His eyes… were now the same as Boarova's shade.  
"Komali… no…" Medli begged, seeing the form again, even as a human was taking a toll on her.  
The human Argorok looked at her, and a fang-filled smile greeted her. **"Komali's not here right now, girl."** Boarova's deep voice rumbled through his mouth. **"But he'll at least see his dreams shatter!"** He thrust forward, hand around Medli's neck.  
The girl couldn't breathe, her mind was distraught and her heart felt like it was breaking.  
 **"This is your foolish sentiment, and your incompetence at failu-!"**  
"I absolve the darkness in your heart!" His speech was interrupted by a certain winged warrior and her very powerful Light Arrow spell in his back. She scolded herself very badly mentally for taking that long due to the shock of all that had happened with Komali, but she hoped that this act would make up for her extreme delay. "Sheikhan Wolf, prepare to collect what evil will be released!"  
"Already on it!" He said, pointing a clawshot at the reforming Gufuu. As soon as the eyeball reformed and scowled, he shot the claw at it and pulled it in. The Gufuu tried to break free, but the wolf knight stabbed it with his other clawshot, the item beginning to crack with the energy inside. He quickly pulled it off and threw it in the air. "Athena, now!"  
"Right!" She formed another arrow and took aim. As it started to shake, she called out "MIRACULOUS RESTORATION!" She fired and as the arrow struck the clawshot, the dark energy bleached into a rosey hue. A small thing fluttering about. _'Is that… the Navii Brawynn talked about?'_  
The Navii spun around, light pink dust falling from the sky, butterfly-like wings aglow with a sense of serenity and joy.  
"Beautiful…" Athena gasped softly as she walked over to the small creature and held a hand out in hopes it would perch there.  
"Hard to imagine that this was something causing us trouble not even a minute ago." Sheikhan muttered as he walked over and stood by her side, gazing at the sprite that had come from the Gufuu.  
Athena nodded with a hum of agreement, her eyes still on the Navii as it traveled to their eye level and started to float around Sheikhan's head. That got a giggle out of her, "Seems that this is your part then, my friend."  
 _'Okay Bleddyn, this better not come with some weird catchphrase that'll want me to lock myself in my room for forever.'_ He thought as he carefully gathered the Navii in his hands. "Okay little one, go and bring forth light!" He stated as it started to fly away from him, all things under it getting covered in the dust from before. The dust changed from its light pink to a snow white as its magic came into play, resulting in all things once broken to stand as though nothing happened and for everyone involved to be healed as well. This was extremely evident with Komali due to now _actually_ being himself instead of that unholy possessed form. Eventually the Navii flew away from the area, as to where it went was anyone's guess.  
"Komali!"  
"Medli!"  
The two embraced and cried in joy.  
And then the people around the heroes cheered quite loudly, chanting their names (which they picked up on thanks to Boarova) and singing their praises.  
Being rather used to this, Athena put on her best smile and waved to the crowd around them, Sheikhan mimicking her until they both heard beeping noises.  
 _'Uh-oh!'_ the two thought in sync.  
"We thank you all for your kind words and celebrations, however my partner and I must retire from the battle. We shall come when Boarvoa's dark enchantments strike once more, fare thee well!" Athena grabbed Sheikhan by his waist and flew off with him before dropping him off in a more secluded part of the park. "Farewell, Wolfie, I'll see you again soon."  
"Athy, wait."  
"Hmm?" She gave him a confused look before she found herself in a hug.  
"That was amazing!" He exclaimed with a laugh, "You verbally tore him apart _and_ managed to undo all that dark magic!"  
"It was not just me, Wolfie. You played a big part in it as well." She couldn't help but mentally gush at him praising her though as he cheeks tinted pink.  
"True…" he mumbled with a shrug, "But it was _you_ who managed to save Komali in the end."  
"Only after I froze at seeing him shot and then possessed." She looked away from him, face showing admonishment for herself.  
Sheikhan pouted a bit before moving into her view again, "Anyone would have frozen up if they saw that happen, even the best of heroes get those moments. We're still new to this too, Athy. Don't beat yourself up so much over every little thing we do and don't do. It's not healthy for us or Hyrule."  
Athena looked at him for a moment in silence. _'He really is being sincere… how long has it been since I've seen such a look in another?'_ She thought before giving him a faint but genuine smile. "Thank you." She whispered before another alerting beep went off. "I _have_ to go now, farewell!" With several strong flaps, she was gone and was flying who knows where.  
Sheikhan sighed as he watched her go until the trees blocked his view, his transformation letting go and Bleddyn floating near his head.  
"You're really nice to her… keep that up." The wolf-like Kwami stated.  
Link just nodded with a smile. He then remembered that his bros were kidnapped and went back to the ruins to make sure they were okay and act like he had been there too but for the same way they were.

-

The cavern shook as its occupant raged at his loss. Boarova seethed his fury as he removed the trident from the stone floor.  
"Those brats are more cunning than I had expected." He reproved, before he smiled. "But even after millennia, the Kwami of Wisdom and Courage will always pay the price from their bearers." The fires dimmed down as the skylight affixed to shadow. "And that will be their undoing soon enough…"

-

Athena soon landed on the grounds of Harkinian Academy in the back around the gym, transformation releasing as her feet touched the ground. "Looks like we're the only ones here?" Zelda pondered as she opened up her canvas bag a bit to let Brawynn hide. "Hello?" She called after opening the doors and looking around. 'Well, the attack happened in the cafeteria… better check there then.' After getting turned around a few times in which way the lunchroom was, she sighed in great relief to see that the broken glass and signs of chaos from before had been erased. _'The Navii came here too, thank Nayru!'_  
"My lady, perhaps it would be best to seek out any faculty members?" Brawynn suggested from her hiding spot.  
"Good idea," she nodded but paused, "Which way was the office again?"  
"I think we passed it upstairs a few times?" The Kwami of Wisdom couldn't see much from her spot, but at least she's trying.  
After another misadventure in getting lost on the way to her destination, Zelda finally managed to find the faculty office. As far as those rooms are, it was rather nicely done in terms of decor (though on further inspection it was found that the plants are fake, minus one mini cactus on the secretary's desk). The coloring was also rather soothing, going with pale rose walls with little pale yellow accents here and there.  
"Is anyone here?" Zelda called tentatively while taking a cautious gait around the room.  
"Zelda?" That was Telma's voice!  
"Auntie Telma!" She ran over to the voice and embraced her as tightly as her body could, "Are you okay? Did those flying reptiles get you? Where is everyone?"  
Temla looked down at the girl and hugged her back. "I'm fine, kiddo. This is nothing."  
"It isn't?" Zelda was now very perplexed by her statement, "Why's that?"  
"This is high school, sweetie. If something crazy doesn't happen, we're not doing our job."  
"Ah?" The young blonde's nose crinkled a bit as she thought on the statement.  
"And honestly, Link, Ravio, and Darunia are still a far cry from what Link's father and uncles would do in class."  
"Dare I ask about _that_ story?" Zelda also made a mental note that those two guys she saw Link with in class were his closer friends, though as to which one was which she'd have to figure out later.  
Telma only laughed lightly at her expression.  
"Oh, auntie? Have you ever heard Link… talk?" Zelda's face shifted to a more solemn, "When he was called on in class, I sort of… tried to defend him by saying he was mute and it… marked us both as laughingstocks to different degrees."  
Telma's matched the girl, "Oh sweetie..." She hugged the girl tighter. "Don't you worry about the public eye, thinking about it only makes you go a bit crazy."  
Zelda let out a squeak at being hugged tighter, "But auntie, everyone's heard him talk but me! I-I don't understand, why…why can't he talk when I'm around? This has been going on since we were kids, but only _now_ I find out he's been able to speak this whole time!"  
Telma released the girl from her hug and sat her down before taking a seat herself. "I can't say much, but from what Nurse Raine told me, he has a condition called selective mutism."  
"Selective… mutism?" Zelda asked slowly, letting the new information sink in. "C-Can you explain further, please?"  
Telma folded her arms. "Sometimes people that can lead normal lives can get really anxious in situations or around certain people to the point that they can't even speak. It's a bit like stage fright."  
"O-Oh…" Zelda let out a shaky breath and stared at the ground just past her feet. _'He has selective mutism. Because of me. Since we were kids. What did I do to have him so anxious that he can't speak?'_ She only just noticed a sly smile on the older woman's face."Hmm?"  
Telma chuckled into her hand. "It's alright Zelda," she said while thinking _'I should have known you were a heartbreaker since you were young~.'_  
Zelda would have pressed further if the door didn't slam open, revealing a very annoyed Impa. "Eep!"  
"Telma, old friend, _thank you_ for the experience of high school for my charge. We shall be on our way before yet another _disaster_ hits the school." Impa said as stoically as possible, but on the mention of the disaster she stated it through clenched teeth.  
Zelda quickly stood, "Thank you for today, auntie. I… might see you again, possibly." The sad smile on her face said otherwise as she came to Impa's side and the two departed.  
"Your father will want to discuss this with you." Impa stated softly after a moment of silence.  
"I know," Zelda nodded a bit as she glanced over to her caretaker.  
"Do you want me to bring dinner to your room?"  
"Yes, please. I…I'd rather not socialize after talking with Father."  
"Very well." Impa gave a nod and the silence resumed.  
The two did not get far with the students finally returning, Link at the front running towards her. Seeing him, Zelda felt sad, but he only embraced her, his way of seeing if she was alright.  
"It's okay, it's okay. I wasn't hurt." Zelda muttered to him. _'Oh Link, I'm so sorry… but at least you won't have to worry about going quiet for long.'_  
Impa raised a brow at the two teens hugging, but made no comment. She knew Link was a good kid, which got her to thinking…  
"WHOO! You got this, Link!" Her attention was distracted by seeing a dark-haired version of - _'Oh goddesses, another set of twins?!'_  
Link glared at his bud, cheeks a bright red color as he gave Ravio a silent "Shut up dude."  
"Best to go back to them, then?" Zelda asked him quietly.  
"Get your claws off my man!" came an indignant shriek.  
On hearing the shriek, and recognizing it as Cia's, Zelda let go of Link and put her hands behind her head as though she was being arrested for something. Link moved so that he stood a bit to the side of his preferred female companion.  
"Rather over-dramatic, Miss Callaghan." Impa stated in a deadpan.  
"She's acting like I committed a crime, therefore to play the part might be a better idea."  
 _'It might work.'_ Impa thought with a small shrug.  
"Worry not, Cia, I was just leaving." Zelda stated with a soft sigh. _'For good, most likely.'_  
Cia stormed up into Zelda's face, pressing forward into the girl's personal bubble. "And it will stay that way if you know what's good for you."  
Zelda reminded herself that she always had an even temper, she didn't stress over things and always kept her head. But over the past two days she's had freedom, and deep down, it was the best thing that's ever happened to her.  
But Cia? This girl just didn't get it like any of her father's business colleagues. And saying losing that freedom was _good for her?  
Not happening._  
"Now you listen here, you bleach brained bimbo!" Zelda snarled, pushing Cia back. "Today was going through the Dark Realm and back for me, and I just wanted to enjoy life as a normal person and make some friends. But you seem blind to your own fantasy world and I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT ANY LONGER!" She stomped towards the girl, eyes blazing with the fires of rage from within. "I will continue coming to this school. I will continue to live a life of my choosing. And You. Will. Back. Off. Or. Else!"  
Cia tensed at the fury in Zelda's voice, but steeled her nerves as she faced the girl. "...Or else what, _Zellie?_ "  
Zelda leaned in until they were only a few breaths away, "I'll tell everyone about the little incident about when I threw you across my yard." She whispered with stoic menace, "Need I remind you I have the witness to such right here to confirm my tale."  
Cia's eyes blanked. "You wouldn't…"  
 _"Try me."_ Zelda added in a hushed hiss.  
 _'I'm having mixed emotions about this.'_ Impa and Link thought while witnessing their verbal battle.  
Cia stepped away, pointing at the girl. "My mother will hear about this!" She ran back into the school, Lana flailing behind.  
 _'Have fun with that, Malfoy.'_ Zelda thought with a satisfied sigh and nod. She was then promptly surrounded by the class with cheers and people wanting to embrace her as thanks. "Eep!"  
"One at a time, one at a time!" Impa stated over the crowd and worked on separating her charge from the mass.  
"Keep her." Ravio whispered to Link as he went to give his congrats.  
Link would have retorted, but the selective mutism prevented such. Instead he just texted him a basic expletive response.  
While Link was busy with that, Bleddyn poked his head out to catch a look at the face who caused all the commotion. _'I'm with bunny guy. I like her scarf, I wonder if she'd be okay if I borrowed the idea.'_ He went back to hiding as he thought about that.  
Despite the celebration-related chaos, Link and Zelda managed to exchange a look. He gave her a big smile that reflected thanks and she returned such with a nod and smile of her own.  
 _'Maybe Gustaf should reconsider this idea of homeschooling.'_ Impa thought as the sea of teenagers eventually departed for their classes (or what was left of them in terms of time anyway). Looking to the main doors, she saw Telma leaning to the side with a smug look on her face. Impa smiled back, even after all this time, the two could read each other well enough to think.  
"Hey, Zelda." The woman's attention was back to her charge and saw another red-haired girl. Her arms were crossed but the smirk on her face said well enough. "Nice work putting the witch in her place."  
"Um… thanks…" Zelda stammered, trying to recall the girl's name.  
"Nabooru. Nabooru Geildo." Nabooru held out her hand, "Hope to see you back here tomorrow."  
Zelda nodded and shook her hand, "We'll see." She glanced to Impa and hoped that she _would_ get to come back tomorrow. Impa was strong, but even she would cave to the watery puppy eyes.  
Right?  
"As my ward said, we'll see." Impa stated.  
Zelda signed a goodbye to Link… though since she wasn't sure if she'd ever see him anytime soon she ran with the impulse to hug him. "I'm sorry for what happened in class." She whispered to him then let go and went on her not-very-merry way with Impa.  
Or at least she was until she heard the sound of a chain rattling. The next thing she knew, the metal coiled around her waist and she was being pulled back into the school, courtesy of Telma… _holding a clawshot._  
"Wha-?!" Zelda peeped as she was released from the chains, no injuries to be had. Looking out, saw Link's shocked face as he ran inside after her, and Impa's standing still as she looked at her. She heard Telma's laughter at the scene.  
"Sorry Twiggy, but as a teacher, I can't simply let a registered student waltz out of here without written consent from a parent or guardian. She'll see you after school~!" she said as the doors closed once more, slamming shut as Impa finished up the steps.  
"DIN'S FIRE, TELMA!" She raged beyond the door, glaring at them through the window until they left. _'Gustaf is going to have my head on a gold platter for this.'_  
"Yeesh," came a voice from her uniform, opening it had the small brown spirit fly out, "all this time and she still has the upper hand on you."  
Impa glared at the Kwami. "What do you want, Huut? Weren't you supposed to go back to Master Rauru?"  
Huut shrugged, his wings bristling slightly. "Eh, I'll be staying around here and wait for Master to come here. You know he can't stand flying." The kwami groaned in frustration. "but I just wanted to see who the brats chose for this."  
Impa pinched the bridge of her nose to stave off the building headache. She knew there was no arguments with the spirits, especially Huut. She heard the distinctive rumbling in the air and saw gray clouds looming in.  
"It's going to rain soon…" _'As if this day couldn't get any better…'_ she muttered as she got to the car parked outside. She could only wait for the time being.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet, all things considered. Zelda sat next to Nabooru, and she got along with her as well as Hilda and Agitha. Cia had more or less been avoiding her gaze as well, unless Link was involved then there was quite a glare in the new student's direction. Ravio and Darunia got to at least properly exchange named with her, some teasing on Ravio's part when Link's selective mutism came into play, but it was in an annoying brother kind of way, no intentional malice.  
The rain wasn't bad at first, but as more clouds rolled in it got heavier and heavier. The only one who didn't seem to mind so much was Ruto, saying she liked the sound of rain as long as thunder and lightning didn't come crashing in too much. She was still sensible in keeping herself dry when school let out though, though compared to everyone else who were either over or under-prepared she seemed a bit of an oddball since she only had a raincoat with hat and boots.  
As the gray clouds continued to trudge through, Link sighed to himself. For once he was glad his mother had (kindly) nagged at him to bring an umbrella to school. Chances are Bleddyn wouldn't have liked going through the rain while he had the hood up. He opened up his blue umbrella and was about to step out when he noticed a certain blonde love of his in the corner of his eye. _'Oh geeze. Just keep cool, Link, and everything will be fine.'_ He thought while giving her a small wave.  
Zelda smiled and waved back, "Walking home?" She asked while doing sign language. She knew she didn't have to actually speak while doing so, but it was such a habit it was weirder to not do it.  
He nodded in response while carefully using his shoulder and the crook of his elbow to balance his umbrella, "[My house isn't too far from here and it's not that bad out.]"  
"That's good. Must be nice." She scanned the street for a moment before turning her attention back to him.  
"[Waiting on your driver?]"  
Zelda nodded.  
"[I can wait with you if you like.]"  
"Oh goodness, Link you don't _have_ to."  
"[I want to.]" He was pretty sure she could see how red his face was.  
"Thank you." She gave him a hug around his shoulders then heard a car coming up. It was rather easy to tell it was hers because it was a white limo.  
"That's my ride, I'll see you tomorrow then." She was about to step out into the rain when Link caught her by her wrist. "Hmm?"  
Link took a deep breath, puffed out his chest a bit, linked an arm with her and escorted her to the car while under his umbrella.  
Zelda was now the one blushing, "You don't _have_ to do this." She stated quietly as she took the handle from him so he could respond.  
"[I want to.]" This came out awkwardly due to the linked arms, but neither party really cared.  
Once at the car, Byrne opened the door for Zelda. Link held the umbrella over her until she was inside.  
Byrne shut the door, looked at Link with an intense stare of examination before giving a single nod and getting into the driver's seat.  
Zelda rolled the window down, "Thank you again, Link!" She waved until the window was up again and he was out of view.  
Link let out a dreamy sigh as he stood there half under the protection of his umbrella.  
"Hey lover boy! Don't get wet, your mom's gonna lecture you about it!" Bleddyn reminded.  
"Ah, right!" Link now was fully under its protection.  
"...We still need to go home."  
"Oh, r-right." Link started making his way, a lopsided, lovestruck smile on his face.

 **Dragon translations:**

 **"You! Dragon! What power courses through you that thinks you better than humans and enslave them as unholy creatures for your bidding!? This destruction will not be tolerated for any longer! State who you are so that I know the name of who I will end this day!"** **"She who bears the name of a Goddess and her Wolf have come. My Master desires to obtain your powers, whether your lives are to be intact is of no consequence to me. Once I have fulfilled my quest, my power will reach all corners of the land to protect the one closest to my heart. NO FORCE CAN STOP ME, THE ARGOROK KING! GIVE UP YOUR MIRACULOUS TO ME!"** **"Your Goddess seems deaf to the proper tongue, Wolf. / A pity that your wisdom is so finite. Aerafols, Attack!"** **"No...no! I will not endanger her safety!"** **"Release my tail, vermin!"** **"Medli! Stay away from her, Mongrel!"** **"I WILL NOT LET MY LOVE DIE!"**


	3. Rabbit Beamer

**Chapter 3: Rabbit Beamer**

It was only a few days after the Argorok incident, yet social media was exploding from Hyrule's new heroes and villain, even a blog had surfaced to keep up the new fanbase about spottings, theories and discussions about who can do what. Many of the new fans leaned more towards Athena in terms of popularity, but Sheikhan Wolf did have his fans as well. Said heroes kept their eyes on the site since the person running it seemed rather keen on putting livestreams up themselves.  
"Looks like you've got some very interesting fans there," Bleddyn sniggered while Link browsed through the comments on the Sheikhan Wolf thread, "aren't you a special guy?" He about lost it with a rather explicit comment made by one fan.  
Link just sank in his seat with a groan. He had come early to get a note from Nurse Raine to help him out with the 'selective mutism when Zelda's around' issue and was just waiting in homeroom at this point. The only other people, other than the teacher, was Hilda (who was reading), Groose (who was making muscles and kissy faces at himself in the window's reflection) and Darunia (who was chilling to some music). Basically, nobody was really noticing Link and Bleddyn could come out at least for a short period. It was only when the class started to get more full that Bleddyn retreated to his hiding spot in Link's hood, Link taking a tip from Darunia and listening to some music. He only stopped when Zelda entered the room, who looked mildly steamed.  
Zelda gave Link a quick hello in Hylian Sign Language and sat in her seat with a miffed sigh. She had been confronted by her father before leaving that day and, was it not for Impa insisting to leave to avoid being tardy, chances are Zelda would have been forced to stay home to continue her learning there. She made a note to speak with Telma about the issue during lunch. Until then, she locked her personal feelings aside to focus on today's lesson and hope that Link will be okay.  
"You seem moody, Zel."  
Zelda turned next to her to see Nabooru checking something on her phone."I had a bit of a bad start to the day." Zelda explained quietly to avoid getting caught by the teacher, "Nothing to worry about right now."  
Nabooru glanced over at her, but shrugged and went back to her phone.  
 _'Just leave the home issues at home, everything will be okay.'_ Zelda told herself. He mind drifted to the day's… earlier mishaps.

 _ **~Flashback~**_

Zelda put in some seeds for Brawynn, packed her books then started heading off once the Kwami of Wisdom was safely tucked away. She hummed a small cheery tune as she made her way out of her room and down the stairs when she noticed a figure waiting for her at the landing. Her father. "And where exactly do you think you're going, young lady?" He asked, his expression stern and voice firm.  
"School, Father. I'm officially enrolled in Harkinian Academy." Zelda replied while keeping her voice steady.  
"And what, pray tell, would imply that I would allow you to go?"  
"You haven't said a thing since the first day I went," Zelda had to resist crossing her arms and simply just folded them in front of her, "so I had thought that Impa had convinced you to allow me." _'Seems I was wrong. Great.'  
_ "Impa has informed me, yes. But the answer is still no."  
"And might I finally know why?" She asked while walking down the stairs before stopping just before the landing to meet him at eye level.  
"The reason is irrelevant. You are to stay here and that's final."  
"I can't now since I'm enrolled in public school. If I stayed here for a long and unexplained amount of time, it would result in you getting into legal trouble." Zelda retorted firmly.  
"And these… things flying about causing destruction?" Gustaf stated, pointing out the window, while there was nothing but clouds, Zelda knew what he meant.  
"You've had me learn how to handle a sword and bow, I can handle myself, Father. Even then we have people to protect us from those monsters, Sheikhan Wolf and his partner Athena. I'll be fine out there, Father. Just trust them." 'Just trust me.'  
Gustaf was about to speak again when Impa came forward.  
"Miss Callaghan, you'll be late at this point." She reminded while keeping a stern face.  
Gustaf sighed and adjusted his white silk tie, "We'll discuss this on a later date, daughter dear."  
"Yes, Father." Zelda stated quietly as she went down the last few steps and left for the car with Impa. "Thanks for the save." She added quietly to the elder woman.  
"It was just coincidence." Impa shrugged.

 ** _~End flashback~_**

"Miss Callaghan, would you mind reading where we left off?"  
That snapped Zelda out of her memories and found herself having to play catch up until Nabooru managed to signal her where they left off. She mentally thanked her new friend for the assist and read.  
After class, Link gave Zelda a tap on the shoulder to catch her attention away from Nabooru and Hilda.  
"Hey, what's up?" Zelda asked while doing the signs.  
["How are you?"]  
She had to think a bit before continuing her response, "I'm adjusting to public school, but it's going by quickly. What about you?"  
["I'm doing fine, thank you. However, you seemed rather -"] he paused here to think of the right word, ["unsettled when you can in this morning. Did Cia do something again?"]  
Her eyes widened a bit on him jumping to the conclusion that Cia was the source of her woe, then shook her head and explained, "It's my dad, he wanted me to not come in today. Or ever again."  
 _'So that explains it.'_ Nabooru thought while giving Hilda a 'Let's leave them be' look and walking off with her with a quick "We'll see you later, Zel!" During their leaving.  
"Bye guys!" Zelda called back to them before giving Link her full attention again.  
Link's face scrunched up as he thought of a tactful response to her explanation. He needed to be both respectful (he _was_ the top businessman in Hyrule after all) but also honest about Gustaf keeping her inside all day long. ["He needs to trust you more, you're doing just fine here."]  
She gave him a sad smile, "Thank you, but it's not just that now. He's worried about the…" she made a note to figure out what in the world 'Gufuu' would be in Hylian Sign Language, "issue of people becoming possessed and turning into monsters from it."  
Link made an 'Ooh' face and was about to give his thoughts on it when the 'Better get into your class or you're tardy' bell ran off.  
"We better go then. I'll see you in our next class then, Link. Take care." She waved a little as she walked.  
 _'Man, what to do with her dad…'_ Link thought as he headed off as well.

Elsewhere, Ravio was wrapping a blue and black striped scarf around his face so that only his eyes showed. At his side was his purple duffel that he was thankful Link was able to grab. Better to have it in the hands of a friend than in someone's that would joyride.  
 _'Ok, Rav, you got this. It's just a simple exchange, no big deal...'_ Ravio breathed. He was still rattled from the late receiving of the last item.  
"Mr. Lipast?"  
Ravio took a deep breath, working on keeping his thoughts in check so that things went as smoothly as possible. He turned to the sound of the voice to see a burly man in red coming in on an equally red moped. "Ah! Mr. D'glitch, good to see you. How's the wife and kids? Been doing good I hope! And that rascally cat of yours, boy don't you have your hands even more full. Don't worry about your part of the trade, it's authentic and in mint condition! You have my guarantee, hence the sticker on all items from yours truly!"  
"I'm single with no kids or pets," D'glitch stated in on-point deadpan while getting off his ride, "so give me the cash you owe. I'm your supplier, remember?"  
"Right, right… habit, sorry." Ravio muttered and did so, handing over a good wad of Rupees to the elder man.  
D'glitch stood quietly as he smoothed out the Rupee notes as he counted them. "The payment came a day late..."  
"Harkinian Academy was attacked yesterday, I got tangled up in that thanks to being kidnapped. Sorry, sir." The scarf-wearing one squeaked a bit.  
D'glitch glowered at the youngster before him. Nothing was said for a small span of time until, "That's a pretty poor excuse, kid."  
'It's not an excuse, I really was kidnapped! I got turned into a winged… thing and I don't really remember much after the fire except waking up afterwards at the ruins!' Ravio thought with a bubbling anger inside, but had to force his heat down, "Sorry, sir." He mumbled quietly as he gritted his teeth after speaking, "So, I'll be on my way once I get my required item then."  
D'glitch nodded and handed him a pouch, "I'd be careful not to be so sloppy with payment dates next time, Mr. Lipast."  
"I-I'll bear that in mind, sir." Ravio nodded and hid the pouch away. _'Even though I've been pretty consistent with paying on time and rarely slipped up!'_ He added to himself while walking away, the heated anger inside rising on hearing D'glitch's moped speed away. He had to keep cool though, cool as ice. Can't make a scene, it might raise suspicions.

The cavern's circle was aflame, depictions littering the walls. The heavy footfalls stepped forth into the cavern's spotlight. The trident slammed into the ground.  
"Hm, a most interesting influence." Boarova stroked his chin in amusement. "A smouldering heart frozen by contempting will." He smirked as he snapped his fingers.  
One of the smaller depictions on the wall melted into the violet mist before forming into Boarova's hand.  
"Gufuu." The gold embossed red eye blinked at its master. "Seek out the darkness in this one's heart." The Gufuu shrieked as it flew through the skylight. "Go, and claim another for the bleakness of this world!"

Ravio heaved a sigh as he started taking off his scarf and storing it in his backpack. _'This day couldn't get any more rotten.'_ With a humph on his lips he started heading to class while typing out a text to his bros that he got their stuff and will meet them at the usual meeting place - Darunia's home - for their fun. He had just a ghost of a smirk at his accomplishment despite the bumps in the road and was starting to feel better about it until he saw a weird, one-eyed blob on the ground.  
The two were staring at each other before the Gufuu started to jump at Ravio, which got him to scream and put his hands up in defense. Said scream shook the Gufuu up a bit due to the pitch and ended up flying away instead of going through with its primary mission.  
"Well… that happened?" Ravio was very, very confused.  
The Gufuu perched itself in the top of a tree, its wings rubbing its sides to lessen the pain.  
 **"You are supposed to possess the boy, you ingrate!"** It heard Boarova snarl. **"I do not tolerate failure, and I don't care how, just do it!"  
** The Gufuu shook itself from its haze and flew back down at Ravio.  
"What the- not again!" Ravio screamed, taking off running in the brush nearby, the Gufuu following close behind. His hoodie was snagged and torn down the center from an offending branch, and he had to abandon it as he slipped into the stream.  
The Gufuu took the opportunity and dived into Ravio's stomach, making him tense up as the voice echoed in his head.  
 **"Well now, we finally speak, child."** Boarova sneered. **"I am Boarova. You feel belittled by others for your own shortcomings. I can help you get over such trials, but you must do something for me in return. Do we have a deal?"  
** Ravio's head slowly rose as a wicked grin slowly cracked across his face, "You bet."  
 **"Very well, Frazz, Master of Iced Fire. Go and prove your self worth to me by bringing me the Miraculous!"  
** Ravio's body was covered in black scales as his form changed, the water surrounding him freezing over in large chunks and the overhead branches bursting into flames, then the stream began to steam as though it was boiling over as the fires above ceased and the branches were now coated in thick ice one would see in the dead of winter.  
His skin was now a dark gray and his eyes turned yellow and beady, he glanced at the branches overhead, and leaped up above to reclaim his hoodie.  
 _"'Frazz'? What a dull name..."_ He chided as he slipped the torn garment on with a bit of a grunt. _"Just call me Rabbit Beamer! Nyehehehehehe!"_

Link looked at his smartphone for the umpteenth time that day. "Where is he?" He asked out-loud before looking over to Darunia, "Dude, have you gotten through to him at all?"  
"No replies for either texting or voice messages," Darunia let out a sullen sigh, "this isn't like our brother at all! What's happened to him?"  
 _'Hopefully it wasn't a shakedown from a deal gone horribly, horribly wrong.'_ Link thought with a mental cringe at the idea of Ravio going out mobster style. He figured to try and call Ravio when he heard the sound of screaming and motors, causing him and Darunia to run to the scene. _'Please don't be Ravio being ran over!'  
_ Well, he wasn't wrong about being Ravio involved… it was just in a way that no one would have expected. (Except you the reader, you were there after all)  
"Link… what is chasing that man and why is he being chased?" Darunia asked as he took in a man in red overalls riding an equally red moped being chased after a creature on a motorcycle that was shooting out these small energy bursts. They were color coded energy bursts as well, the orange shots made flames and light blue made ice.  
"I have no idea," Link stared in utter bafflement until he noticed 2 distinct pieces of fabric flopping in the wind, _'hey wait, those look like… rabbit ears!? You've gotta be kidding me, Ravio was hijacked!?'_ "Darunia, you call 986, I'll see if I can warn Ravio about this!"  
"You got it!" Darunia did so.  
Link walked off quickly to make it like he was just going elsewhere to talk so that he and Darunia's chats didn't overlap the calls. In reality he was taking cover and shook his hoodie to sit Bleddyn.  
"But the peanut butter!" Bleddyn snorted awake and looked around, "What's up?"  
"A Gufuu infected my best friend, time to howl!" This time he actually got a bit of distance from his hiding place before letting out his howl.

Zelda was currently in her room reading something for class, lazily moving a bookmark with a tassel on it back and forth, while Brawynn batted and flailed at said tassel much like a pet cat. Made even funnier due to only having bird feet and wings, along with her very determined grunting as she tried to grab all the strands. Their peace was greatly disturbed by the sounds of a moped and motorcycle driving by, fire truck and police sirens and a howl piercing the air nearly all at once.  
"So much for peace and quiet." Zelda put the bookmark in, put her reading down, stood and opened up one of her windows, "Brawynn, spread your wings!" Once fully transformed she took flight and followed the sounds of chaos as quickly as she could.

 _"Nyehehehee~! Now_ this _is how business is supposed to be done!"_ Beamer shrieks as he revs the engine, flames shooting from the exhaust. The tires squealed as the asphalt cooled over and turned slick, which caused major road bumps thanks to all the cars driving over it and making the pavement uneven and dangerous. The air was filled to the brim and then some with the car honks of those who are trying to rush elsewhere but cannot thanks to Rabbit Beamer's chaos.  
"Goddesses, who did Boarova control to make so much insanity?" Athena muttered to herself as she tried to find the Gufuu behind the travel upheaval. It didn't take too long due to the cackling, screaming and the sounds of the two motor-driven bikes. _'First things first, saving the person this Gufuu is chasing!'_ With a powerful flap she dove after the man in red and picked him up, the effort being strained because he would just not let go of the moped. "Sir, please release your vehicle, it's making saving you much harder than it should be!" She groaned under the weight.  
However, the man was in disagreement with the heroine's advice, "I paid good money for this and the paint job, no way will I just let go!"  
"Oh my goddesses," Athena muttered in great annoyance, "I promise, it'll be fine once we take down your pursuer, just let go!" At this point she was just trying to get him off the road despite how cumbersome the task has become due to the man's stubbornness. She let out a satisfied sigh on setting the two on the sidewalk that lined the park, only to hear Rabbit Beamer's approach.  
 _"How 'bout some fried boid girl!?"_ He pulled out a rod with a gemstone on top that looked like swirling, blazing fire, waved it at them and launched a large column of fire!  
Athena ended up standing in front of the civilian to take the hit. She figured her magical outfit could take this, after all she got thrown around days prior with no scratches taken. As the sensation of heat came closer and closer to her being, she was starting to really regret this choice of tactics… but she ended up freezing in place out of fear.  
That's when she felt a familiar metallic claw around her waist and pulling her out of harm's way. The red overall-wearing man had gotten the same treatment as her and they were both out of the line of fire - literally. The moped, however, suffered the attack and promptly exploded. Magic fire causes _quite_ the explosion.  
"My moped!" D'glitch sobbed.  
"You're welcome." Sheikhan deadpanned to the crying one.  
"Sheikhan!" Athena smiled and then gave him a double-look, "Sheik… where'd the scarf come from?"  
"Scarf?" He looked down and noticed that he now had a long, blue scarf a few shades lighter than Athena's dress with the frays in red and gold. "What the - when did I get this? This was not here the first time!" _'Bleddyn, you better have a good explanation for this!'  
_ "Well, I think it looks dashing on you~."  
Sheikhan was very, very glad for his mask since he blushed a bit on the comment, "You're too kind, my goddess." He then grabbed her and pulled her out of the way of some ice blocks that nearly crushed the two of them. D'glitch managed to avoid getting hit from seeing the shadows that were cast before the two of them.  
"Great, dual elemental fight." Athena's deadpan matched Sheikhan's earlier tone as she looked at the perpetrator.  
 _"Well, well, well! The boid and the puppy came to play~."_ The Rabbit Beamer cackled.  
"A Holodrum accent?" Athena wondered if that was natural or not.  
'Ravio, you haven't even been there last I checked. Why the accent?' Sheikhan resisted the urge to smack his hand against his forehead.  
"Anyway, you're going down!" Athena stated as she turned her wings into her bow and started running a bit to be harder to hit (with any hope). "Sheikhan, cover me!"  
"On it!" He took out his trusty blade and ran forward with a war cry.  
 _'I need to be more specific and say to be tactical when covering me.'_ Athena mentally sighed.  
On seeing the green-clad wolf hero charge at him, Rabbit Beamer's staves were engulfed in dark fire and black ice that morphed them into nearly identical escrima sticks, the main difference being the fire-based one being in a red/orange color motif while its opposite bore a more light blue and white theme. He raised them over his head in an X formation, which worked to block the oncoming vertical slice Sheikhan Wolf was executing. Magical weapons sure are sturdy!  
 _"Aww, bad puppy!"_ Rabbit Beamer laughed as both staves glowed and Sheikhan was blasted back, the fur on his armor somehow being singed and frosted all at once. _"Better get back from the Freezer Burn!"  
_ Athena figured to shoot while Rabbit Beamer was focused on her partner, hoping that she could at least hinder him somehow. _'At least a shot to the upper arm will help. Apologies, one possessed, if you feel this!'_ She took a deep breath and launched her basic arrow. What she didn't expect was for her partner to get in the way at the last second and end up getting the hit instead, "Sheik!"  
Sheikhan fell to the ground, grunting in pain as the wind felt like it was stabbed from his lungs.  
 _"Ohoho! Too slow, boidbrain!"_ Rabbit Beamer jumped away and landed on his cycle. _"Now look, I'm pretty grateful for the last time with youse guys saving me from being lizard legionnaires, but I gotta finish off my old boss for my new one, and uh… what was that other thing?"  
_ **"Get. Me. The Miraculous, you half-wit!"** Boarova roared in the villain's mind.  
"Yeesh, alright." Rabbit Beamer said as he cleaned out his ear. _"New boss wants your Miraculous, but I'll let you off this time."_ He revved up the engine and sped off. _"Consider this your freebie! Nyehehehehe!"  
_ Athena turned her bow back into her wings and flew over to Sheikhan, "Wolfie, I am _so_ sorry!" She checked to see just how badly the damage from her impromptu friendly fire caused. There was a great sigh of relief from her lips on seeing that it didn't go into his body, he had chainmail on and it only ruined the fabric of his outfit. "This will probably hurt." She grabbed onto the shaft, "One, t-!" Then she found out just touching it makes it vanish. "Does it still hurt?" She asked while helping him to his feet.  
"I'll be fine..."  
"Now we have to -"  
" _I'll_ handle this one."  
She flinched a bit on hearing his tone. She thought to ask how, but figured to just keep quiet due to current circumstances, "I understand. I'll… stay with the person he was chasing earlier in case he comes back." With a few flaps she was gone. _'I really am sorry, Wolfie…'_ she choked back a sob while she tried to find D'glitch. Wasn't too hard due to his attire. "Pardon, sir, but I'll have to stay close to you in case that Gufuu returns for you."  
"And I should trust the girl who let my moped be set ablaze _why?_ " He crossed his arms and stared long and hard at her.  
"I have a weapon." Athena produced such, "And can fix the problem when given the opportunity with some purification-based magic. _Including_ your moped."  
"...My name is Baagu. I'm part of a group that distribute items to certain clientele. I don't know who that guy is, but it looks like he stole something from my best courier."  
"Elucidate please, Mister Baagu? What would this item have been to tip you off?"  
"It was something that he wore, that strange violet-colored hoodie of his with the animal ears on top."  
 _'Animal ears? Violet?'_ Athena remembered at least one classmate wearing something of that description, _'Ravio! Maybe Link can help me find him?'_

"Ah-CHOO!" Sheikhan sniffled, _'What was that about? I'd think with the addition of the scarf it would be pretty hard to get cold.'_ He stared along the skyline, thoughts between his search for his Gufuu'ed buddy and the arrow incident from earlier. _'C'mon, Rav. Where are you?'  
_ Some fire engine sirens in the distance might be a key to the location of the friend in question. He fired the clawshot at a building, and as he leaped, he forced the wind around his legs to help him float. He even managed to kick some air at some fire to make it stop, though the issue of stability from the trick needed to be thought of more readily.  
As he went back to leaping buildings with the use of his clawshot and control of the wind, that's when Sheikhan Wolf noticed something very, very odd. He saw the motorcycle of Rabbit Beamer's outside an apartment building, but not the owner. Due to the curiosity of the scene, he hid himself as quickly as possible and watched to see what was going on.  
Rabbit Beamer came out of the house with a spring in his step and some Rupee bills in hand, "Another satisfied customer! I even got extra~!" Beamer clicked his heels then drove away with a cackle.  
(What he doesn't know is that the extra was to keep him far away as possible, let's face it who'd want a **Gufuu** as their courier?)  
Sheik took a moment to analyze what just happened. 'So, he's still making deliveries despite his current form. Ravio, my friend currently under the power of an evil doer, is still going around making sure that his deliveries are done and that he gets paid. What is wrong with you, why are we friends again, and - GAH! NOT ANOTHER BUILDING ON FIRE!' And off he went.

Athena found that, after escorting Baagu D'glitch to a safe location, that she was getting less and less capable of focusing on the task at hand as she flew around. She kept hearing Baagu's earlier words repeating over and over again in her head and it wasn't helping. She landed on a rooftop with a frustrated sigh and paced back and forth while trying to put the pieces together. "Where in the big city of Hyrule could he have gone after that unfortunate failure of a fight scene? Come on Athena, think. You have wisdom, use it! This shouldn't be too hard, just look for a purple rabbit hoodie and that's the Gufuu you're looking for. It's not like you're doing this alone, you have Wolfie with y-" She stopped and now found the events of her accidentally shooting him replaying in her head now, "If… he's still willing to work with me." She ran her thumb over the Miraculous around her neck while looking up at the sky, _'First Link with his mutism in school, and now Sheikhan Wolf. I'm starting to wonder if this is a sign saying I wasn't suppose to be Athena…'_ her other hand balled into a fist as she fought back tears. 'No, no, no! Just ask him after we save Ravio if he wants to continue working with me. If he says no, then I'll find someone else Brawynn can work with. Someone who won't end up doing friendly fire at the one person who was just doing what he was instructed to do so.'  
She was snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Rabbit Beamer's approach, "Got him." With a flap she was off and tailing him, now having to avoid ice blocks that materialized in the air. She then got an idea and flew ahead of him. "You couldn't hit the broadside of a Lon-Lon barn even if you tried!"  
 _"You take that back, boidbrain!"_ Rabbit Beamer screeched as he summoned more ice blocks. One swift dodge and five seconds later, he figured out what her plan was and was cut short of a curse on running into her idea. He was sent flying for a bit and skidded across the road, groaning while trying to straighten out his vision.  
Athena quickly brought out her bow and shot an arrow at him, actually managing to hit him in his upper arm.  
 _"Yeeouch! Have some manners will ya!?"_ Rabbit Beamer rolled to his feet and charged forward with another pillar of fire, not wanting to make the same mistake he did earlier with the ice blocks again.  
Athena swapped out for her wings again and flew out of the way. _'Note to self: speak to Brawynn about somehow obtaining a close-quarters weapon!'  
_ _"Burn baby, burn!"_ Rabbit Beamer cackled as he sent more fire pillars after her.  
Athena pulled off some dodges and flew a figure eight around him.  
Rabbit Beamer watched her and tried to hit her, but due to her constant moving and said movement shape not being a circle, this wasn't that easy. The moment he managed to lose track of her in a rage-filled attack, that's when she swooped in and gave him quite a punch to the back of his head.  
Athena panted as she landed and stared at the villain, gently turning him onto his back. That's when her arrow vision kicked in, "So that's where the Gufuu is!" There was only one little problem: No Sheikhan Wolf to help with the purifying. _'Wolfie, where are you? I know you're mad but I just need you for a few moments, then we don't have to talk to each other for a while. Possibly forever if you think I need to be replaced by another.'_ Her wings drooped at her last mental statement.  
Rabbit Beamer groaned and, on seeing the winged warrior distracted by her own thoughts, used this moment to pull a trick out of his sleeve. He looked back at where his motorcycle crashed and, with a couple twitches of his nose, it was in full repair and was now heading straight at Athena!  
She did avoid it though by flying; motorcycles aren't known for their impromptu sneak attack capabilities.  
"Good to know that can happen." Athea noted with crossed arms while glaring down at the Rabbit Cheater.  
 _"Just wait 'til I get goin', toots!"_ Rabbit Beamer cackled while shooting more pillars of fire at her.  
 **"Toots!?"** Now she was angry. Nobody is gonna call her some 1940's slang term for (inappropriately) addressing women and get away with it! Like a hawk descending on their prey, Athena dove forward with fury alight in her eyes and her talons out to strike!  
Now, Rabbit Beamer would have reacted to such by using either of his elemental weaponry to just strike her as she went straight at him from above. However, watching her dive ended up kicking up some flight instincts and started to run, he tried to run so far away. He managed to duck in time before her foot make contact, but seeing the long stretch of upheaved ground (and concrete, asphalt and/or cement!) that came from her failed attempt to strike him, this resulted in the desire to regroup his thoughts. With a quick pulling out of a small bell his ride came over and he rode off to put some distance between him and she who wants revenge from the name calling.  
"Get back here!" Athena roared as she took flight again.  
 _'Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope!'_ Beamer tried to shake her off by going through what he could: alleyways, crowded streets, parking garages. To say she was relentless was an understatement. _"Sheerow, we're not gonna make it!"_ Yes, that's his bike's name.  
 _'Oh, if only I could shoot and fly at the same time!'_ Athena thought with a great scowl upon her features. She knew she had a decently high chance of blowing out the rear fire with an arrow, but it was either keep flying to continue her pursuit or do a quick landing and hope that he was still going to be within her shooting range when she released her fury in the form of an arrowhead. Though she soon found out that neither would be possible, as she heard a distinctive tone. _'My transformation is nearly up!? No!'_ With a loud groan of frustration, she used her remaining time to flee the area to become Zelda once more in a less chaos-ridden area of town.  
Rabbit Beamer found that she was going away, skidded Sheerow to a stop and watched her leave until she was out of his line of vision. _"What in Din's name was_ that _all about?"  
_ **"Her Miraculous ran out of power!"** Boarvoa roared in his head, a pause of silence occurring before he continued to speak, **"It matters not for now. In time she'll return, and then her Miraculous, along with the one belonging to her cur of a partner, will be mine at last!"  
** _"Good ta know! Now, if you excuse me, I have more deliveries!"_ Rabbit Beamer cackled and peeled out.  
Zelda waited for the roar of the engine to peter off into the distance before releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding. She held Brawynn in her hands and neither spoke for a time. "I'm sorry for acting so rashly." The blonde sighed and lowered her head, "And for what I did today in regards to Wolfie…"  
"Don't beat yourself up over it." The Kwami stated. "The Wolves have always been made of sterner stuff. You aren't the first to make this mistake."  
Zelda made a quiet hum of consideration. _'At least it's good to know I'm not the only one. Still… I have to be more careful.'_ "Thank you, my friend. Let's head back home before it gets too dark out." She hid the small one away with the use of her hair and started heading out of the alley.  
She looked around to see if there was any sign of Rabbit Beamer or even Sheikhan Wolf. _'Given the chaos from earlier, the streets are clear as well. There's a low chance of anything happening on my way home, right?'_ With a small sigh escaping her lips, Zelda picked up her walking pace a little. _'Doesn't mean I should lollygag. I've still got to do my homework and try to come up with an excuse as to why I wasn't in my room if anyone checked up on me at all.'_ And so the thought process of excuses went through her mind while making her journey home. Said process was starting to distract her from such things as a chunk of ice from Rabbit Beamer's earlier attack melting enough to dislodge itself and heading for her head…!  
Zelda heard the ice crack and looked up, her body ironically froze in panic. She barely caught the glimpse of green in her vision as the ice boulder suddenly careened down the street, missing parked cars.  
"Are you hurt, ma'am?" Wait a second, Zelda knew that voice…  
 _'Wolfie?'_ Zelda blinked a few times as, yes indeed, her partner was standing before her, sword drawn, and having saved her - as Zelda! - from being hurt.  
"It's not safe for a lady to be traipsing down the streets with a Gufuu about. I would suggest you g-" Sheikhan stopped as he looked at the girl he saved. _'Oh geez, it's Zelda! Wait. I just talked to her… I WAS ACTUALLY TALKING TO HER!'  
_ They both stared at each other in silence for what seemed like hours (it was only half a minute) before Zelda spoke up, "I-I was, um… actually heading home right now! I was h-hiding in a building when that motorcycle mon- person came through and caused all of this. Heh, y-yeah… " She explained. _'Smooth, Zelda, smooth. Like sandpaper. Din, strike me now.'  
_ "I see… well, that monster is actually a boy called Ravio, I believe he goes to the same school you do."  
Her mind blanked out, the moment being rather surreal to her. She was talking to Wolfie - _her_ Wolfie - as Zelda. Not as her winged archer alter ego, Athena, but as Zelda Moira Callaghan. She at least managed a "Uh-huh" to his statement as she tried to not freak out. _'I'm starting to think being Athena gives me better confidence as well. Oh boy, this'll end awkwardly won't it?'_ "Well, um… th-thank you for saving me. I hope catching that R-Ravio person will go okay." She smiled in a sweet but shy manner as her cheeks were tinted a bright red. _'Get ahold of yourself woman! This is no time to get weak-kneed just because he kept a big piece of ice from hitting your head! Even if those eyes are just so gentle-looking and strong, and his voice right now… it's just so - focus, Zelda, focus! You have to catch Ravio too! Maybe he has a plan? Ask if he has a plan.'_ "So, if you don't mind a random girl you just saved asking, d-do you have an idea or item that will help catch that Ravio g-guy?"  
 _'GAH, SHE'S SO CUTE.'_ Sheikhan Wolf screamed in his head on repeat and at 5 times speed. "I don't mind at all, but you have to promise not to say anything to anyone."  
"I promise." Zelda grinned as she nodded. Brawynn gave her a light slap on the back of her neck for moving so much. _'Oops, sorry Brawynn.'_ "So what's the plan, Mister Hero?"  
Sheikhan looked on for a moment. _'Okay, Bleddyn, give me something good!'_ He stuck his hand into his pouch. "Item Charge!" He threw his fist above his head, a light glimmering through his fingertips. As it dissipated, he opened his hand to reveal…  
"A whistle?" Zelda blinked… talk about a downer…  
 _'Really, you mutt. NOW OF ALL TIMES?!'  
_ "Try playing it?" Zelda suggested, wondering why it would be a whistle of all things.  
Sheikhan looked it over. For some odd reason, it was shaped like a crescent with flattened tips. _'Aw what's there to lose at this point?'_ He shrugged as he blew into the mouthpiece.  
Do-do-doooo do-do-dooooo~  
"Well, the tune it played is rather cute." Zelda had a faint smile on her lips hearing it. _'Did he actually move his fingers or did it adjust the notes itself?'  
_ _'I know that tune, what's up your sleeve, you imp?'_ Brawynn thought while rubbing her lower beak with a wing.  
"Heh, I thank you kindly, ma-!" The sound of a motorcycle cut the masked hero off as he stood in front of Zelda with his sword drawn once more, _'Bring it on, Rav!'  
_ _'Not now! I still need to feed Brawynn before I can transform again!'_ Zelda made a small panicky noise as she tried to shrink herself behind Sheikhan's form.  
What they thought was Rabbit Beamer was not. It was still a motorcycle, but not the one they were expecting.  
As the bike halted in front of them, they saw it was a coppery brown that glistened in the afternoon sun. The main body was rather large for a bike, and the fairing was shaped surprisingly like a horse's head, twin headlights shone brightly forward in place of the eyes, the lower spoiler behind the front wheel was like a plate armor protecting the engine, which was further protected by two distinctive shields, emblazoned with Athena's mark.  
Zelda peeked out from behind him and the two stared at it with wide eyes, then slowly looked at each other before looking back at the bike.  
 _'So that's what it does.'_ Sheikhan thought.  
"This means you can keep up with him while trying to take him down!" Zelda exclaimed with a gleeful tone with a grin to match.  
"Yup!" Boy he hoped she wouldn't catch on that he was just plain confused and clueless about what just happened.  
Brawynn, due to the two being distracted by their new ride, popped her head out a little to see just what Bleddyn dug up, _'Bleddyn, you card. Though I do wish you supplied helmets.'  
_ The bike revved its engine, surprisingly sounding like a horse's whinny, only done by an army instead of just one.  
The two teens looked at each other again on hearing the engine revving. "Well, that's different." They said in near sync.  
"You want a ride home?" Sheikhan asked after the initial shock wore off, straddling the bike, and grabbing its handlebar reins.  
Zelda hesitated at first due to never having ridden one even as a passenger. _'I can trust him, he wouldn't let anything happen to me… I just wish we still got helmets. Even the rebel boys in the movies had them from time to time.'_ "S-Sure." She gulped down a bit as she got onto the motorcycle as well, putting her hands on his shoulders and also hoping that the engine could mask how hard her heart was beating.  
Brawynn also took this time to change hiding places and, with a quick but sincere apology, hid herself in Zelda's shirt. No way was she about to stay in Zelda's hair while they were going legal speed limits, she'd be flung off!  
As if understanding the thoughts of the passenger, the bike's gas tank opened up to reveal a helmet. It flung out like a spring and landed directly on Zelda's head comfortably.  
 _'Good thing I moved when I did, otherwise I would've been crammed in there.'_ Brawynn thought while bracing herself for the ride.  
Zelda let out a startled cry as the helmet was put on her, but after a deep breath she was okay with it, "Okay, all good." She stated while putting the visor down. 'I just wish you had one too…'  
"Alright. Let's go… erm… Epona!" Sheikhan called, twisting the throttle. The bike came to life and pulled a vicious wheelie before speeding forward. Both riders screamed at first, Zelda wrapping her arms around his waist to prevent herself from falling as Sheikhan's scarf blew magnificently in the wind.  
"S-Sorry!" She raised her voice to be heard over the engine and tried not to think about how, despite having chainmail (as she found out earlier) under his tunic it was still pretty skin tight.  
Sheikhan, however, could only grin like a fool, feeling her chest against his back. "D-don't worry!"  
 _'Teenagers.'_ Brawynn let out a silent sigh accompanied by an eye roll.

"Ah! You might wanna stop a few blocks from my house, I don't think my dad, his right hand or my strong and silent type bodyguard would think highly of you if they saw us together like this!" Zelda warned after a few minutes of riding.  
"Not a fan of superheroes, I take it?" Sheikhan smirked.  
"I don't think so, but I doubt my dad would be happy to see me on a motorcycle with a boy who seems to be around my age. It's a parent thing, can't really explain it! Plus, like I said, my bodyguard is pretty strong, Dad might send him out to scare you off!"  
"After facing a dragon, I think I can handle a guard, but I understand. Where to, princess?"  
Zelda gulped a bit at the nickname and really hoped he couldn't actually see her flushing face, "Uh… Callaghan Estate." _'And here comes the freak out.'  
_ To his credit, Sheikhan did not freak out, instead speeding up through an intersection to get past the light. Inside though, he was freaking out if Impa somehow recognized him.  
"Ahh!" Zelda increased her grip around him due to the speeding up. 'Trust him, trust him… though I do wonder if he could handle 3 angry adults. I'd think Argorok would be cake _compared to Dad, Impa and Byrne. Hey wait a second...'_ "You know where my house is? How? I didn't give directions!" "UH… well, the Castle District is pretty well known for your residence… ehehehe…"  
"I guess that's true?" Zelda shrugged a bit, "I wouldn't suggest living there despite what people say about the glitz and glam, it's a pretty stuffy community! And nosey. Oh! I-I probably shouldn't be talking about civilian stuff, you're a busy hero and all, ehehe… s-sorry!"  
The rest of the ride was in silence, something Zelda did not take well. He stopped a few blocks away as asked, Epona's engine rumbling in a snort. As she got off and returned the helmet, she saw Sheikhan's face in a hardened expression, and her anxiety ran out. "Mister Hero, is… everything okay?" She asked softly with uneasiness clear in her eyes.  
(It should also be noted that Brawynn's back to hiding in her hair, having slipped in shortly after the removal of the helmet, it would be awkward to have a bird-like shaped lump in one's shirt when talking to another after all!)  
"It's nothing, princess, just something that happened earlier today that I'd rather not think about." _'Why must you look at me like that? I just wanna spill everything out when you do! Those blue eyes of yours are just so…so…! I can't say anything bad, they're beautiful and my kryptonite.'  
_ "If you're sure… still, thank you for what you've done. If you're ever around, come see me and I'll treat you a little." She waved to him as she started walking, though soon found herself stopping again when she felt a hand grab her.  
"Wait, I… can tell you're pretty smart, can you help me? It's quick, I swear, I just need some help sorting things out with this… friend I have."  
 _'This is totally about the arrow incident, isn't it?'_ Zelda thought while she turned to face him, "Of course."  
"You know about how I've worked with Athena as of late, right?"  
"I do, you're both a popular subject online these days."  
"Then I guess you heard about what happened earlier…"  
"Through some amateurish video footage, yes." She lied while internally wincing at having to do so.  
"Personally, I'm not as mad as one would think about her shooting me."  
"You're not?" She was genuinely shocked, "Why?" _'Because I honestly thought about having someone replace me due to guilt!'  
_ "I was more angry that she went ahead and just attacked the kid before I could get any info from him." He leaned back on Epona and looked at her. "I know that guy is a pretty hard worker, but he's a bit shy around new people, especially after an incident with another bodyguard like you said."  
 _'Oh Wolfie, I'm sorry! I'll wait next time so you can get info, I swear!'_ "It might be a good idea to talk to her about it so that the mistake isn't made twice? Chances are she'll understand."  
Sheikhan eyed her before sitting up and grabbing the handles. He chuckled. "Thanks, princess, that helped a bit."  
"Anything for Hyrule's newest hero." She gave him a bit of a toothy smile as her cheeks went bright pink, "Good luck with your mission and talking to Miss Athena." Then her blush got darker when she heard her stomach growl. _'Guess it's not just Brawynn who needs food right now. Please tell me he didn't hear that.'  
_ Alas, he did, but he only chuckled before reaching to his side and tossing her a small pouch. It rattled in her hand and when she reached inside, she pulled out a pumpkin seed.  
"It's not much or filling, but they do really well for some energy. My Kwami is nuts about the stuff."  
Zelda giggled a bit, "Thank you for your generous offer, Mister Hero. I'll do my best to enjoy them." She then popped the seed in her mouth.  
 _'I can't tell if this cheekiness is your own or your boy's, Bleddyn. Still, thank you both.'_ Brawynn thought with a small but fond smile on her beak.  
"Take care, princess!" Link revved up Epona and, after yet another wheelie that threatened to possibly have him on the ground, he was speeding down the road.  
"Bye!" Zelda called out after him, then sighed while cradling the pouch to her chest.  
"Might I have a share?" Brawynn asked as she perched on her shoulder.  
"Uh-huh." Zelda responded absentmindedly while pulling out a couple seeds and holding them out in the open.  
"...Dear, I'm on your shoulder."  
"Uh-huh." She moved her hand.  
"Your _other_ shoulder."  
Zelda moved her hand yet again.  
'Oh the irony, the archer was hit with an arrow from Cupid.' Brawynn sighed and worked on eating the seeds. 'Pumpkin… of course it is, you twit.' She giggled as she munched.

 _'I talked with Zelda! I - talked - with - Zelda! With actual spoken words!'_ To say Link was happy about this accomplishment was the understatement of the week. When he wasn't focusing on the road he was playing his conversations with her back in his head. Despite the difficulties of the day, there was at least that one good note about it.  
Though the sound of sirens in the distance snapped him back into hero mode and went to see what had happened. Seems Rabbit Beamer had passed through again and lit some fires along the way!  
"Let's go, Epona!" With a whinny and his scarf flying behind him, Sheikhan was quickly on the scene and assisting with putting out the fires with some concentrated wind blasts where he could do them without furthering damage to the area. He knows everything will be okay with a Navii, but that doesn't excuse property damage when it came to saving the day (And chances are Athena would scold him for it whether she's witnessing it or not, which he'd be right about).  
One police officer on the scene came up to Sheikhan Wolf once everything was under control, the young hero recognizing him from career days past.  
"Thank you for your help, Sheikhan, we've been spread pretty thin by this motorcycle-riding lunatic's attacks." He was a bit lanky for a police officer, with fire engine red hair that somehow stuck out an such an angle where one of his bright blue eyes was covered by his asymmetrical bangs. Despite the tone of mild gratitude the man held, his eyebrows seemed to be stuck in an eternal, rather bushy angry arching. Sheikhan's learned not to question how or why his eyebrows were like that, though wondered how in the world his daughter, Lana, was related to him. He could see the relation in their noses, but not much else aside from that.  
"No problem, officer -" here he had to pause and look at his badge so that it was like the two were meeting for the first time, "Officer Ambi."  
"Think you can catch this guy before the city's rubble?" Officer Ambi asked, his eyebrow twitching slightly.  
"I'll do what I can until Athena gets here." he replied, revving the engine and going off.  
"All officers report! We have a Code 3 and 6AD in progress, I repeat a Code 3 and 6AD in progress!" Came the somewhat static-infused cry from Ralph's walkie talkie.  
"Officer Ambi responding, what's going on?"  
"A Code 3 with a 6AD, penal codes 10853 and 23103!" the other voice explained as calmly as possible. A cackle was also heard in the background.  
"Hang tight, sending help right now!"  
"11-98 at the Geldo district!"  
"Roger, Ambi out!" Ralph then turned to Sheikhan Wolf… only to find that he had gotten a head start. When did that happen? "Backup on the way. Vigilante Wolf is after the rabbit. I repeat. Wolf is on the Hunt."  
 _'Hang on, Ravio!'_ Sheikhan thought while putting the pedal to the metal.  
(A/N: we probably both botched any chances for accurate police speak… we apologize deeply!)

The Geldo district, when not under attack by a manic motorcyclist Gufuu, was a hot place in terms of climate and for shopping. Many of their goods ranged from imported spices and fabrics to made from scratch meals that have been passed down the prime culture (which is Gerudo, if it wasn't obvious enough) from generations and made into restaurants. As of right now, the usual buzz that would surround the marketplace and the people running their shops was dead because of the Rabbit Beamer's mayhem and/or deliveries. He even picked up some new toys along the way, two rods that allowed different elemental control - one that allows Beamer to use the winds and the other summons forth (temporary) walls of sand. Now a rod that controls sand would generally be useless in a city district, except due to ensure quick imports, Geldo is located near a rather large docking area that also had a beach beside it. Sometimes said sand gets a little further mainland and is incorporated into the city's aesthetic instead of literally being brushed aside.  
 _"Ohhhhh~ The world's a-filled with turmoil and the winds are twisting by.  
"The sunny days're sweltering and the chilly days benign.  
"It's on this day we find the sound of chaos in the midst  
All in Boss's desire, for the Miraculous!"  
_ (Speaking of Boarvoa, guess who was resisting the urge to hit his head on the nearest wall to avoid damaging his own Miraculous due to the little ditty of his Gufuu of the day.)  
Rabbit Beamer would have started up a part two to his song was it not for the sound (and sight in the mirror) of a certain green-clad hero coming up behind him. _"Well, well, well! The_ boidbrain's pet's come to play again!"  
He didn't expect the sonic boom as Sheikhan sped past and halted a block away, causing him to stagger on his ride to see the Wolf's new wheels.  
 _"How'ja you get THAT sweet ride?!"_ Rabbit Beamer exclaimed, tightening his grip on the handlebars.  
Sheikhan smirked. "Whassa matter, Bunyip? Can't handle your carrot stick shift?" he revved Epona again, the roaring sounding like a whinny.  
Beamer glowered at the hero, gritting his teeth in suppressed rage, black scales forming around his eyes as a familiar voice spoke within his mind.  
 **"He's goading you into making a mistake."** Boarova snarled. **"Make him regret it."**  
 _"Yes SIR!"_ Beamer roared as he twisted the throttle on Sheerow, rocketing him at Sheikhan.  
The wolf smirked and revved Epona up, speeding down the road. _'Alright, he took the bait! Rav's never been one to back down from a challenge. Let's continue this "follow the leader". Hopefully Athena gets back soon.'_ looking at his bracelet, he saw two of the paw pads gone.  
 _"Get back here!"_ Beamer shouted over the engine, pulling out a green four limbed staff and aiming it at Sheikhan. The limbs spun and caused a cyclone to form, pulling up cars and debris to stop his adversary. Epona deftly swerved through the panic, knowing exactly where everything would fall.  
Sheerow plowed through it all, despite being smaller, its rider's drive intent on catching the hero.  
This continued a few blocks until the reached the beach. Both Epona and Sheerow neck and neck as Sheikhan parried off Beamer's fire and ice staffs.  
 _"Why won't you fall?!"_ the villain screamed as he locked the ice staff to Sheikhan's sword.  
Shekhan just smiled. "Because I don't want to disappoint a watching goddess."  
Rabbit Beamer was going to ask, but nearly getting an arrow to the face answered his question. _"Boidbrain's at it again!?"  
_ Athena quickly turned her weapon back into her main mode of transport and followed after the two riders, soon flying alongside her partner. "Remind me to thank Officer Ambi for flagging me down while looking for you."  
Sheikhan slowed down Epona to have Athena set herself on. Beamer flew ahead and stopped aways away, revving the engine in a way that would be considered taunting.  
Athena quickly seated herself behind Sheikhan Wolf, the helmet from before landing itself on her head. She looked between Rabbit Beamer and her partner. "Oh no. No, no, no. I've seen this before on those old movies that show on TV sometimes, you are _not_ playing cucco with this guy! If anything, it's _worse_ than doing it in a car since we'll be even more exposed if we crash!"  
"Do you have any other ideas?" Sheikhan asked drolly.  
Athena hummed in a critical manner while thinking, her eyes darting around until they settled on his sword. _'Well, if we get close enough I could do some damage to the tires? I don't think launching my arrows while riding Epona would be the smartest of ideas. Is it even possible to do archery on a motorbike?'  
_ "You have 5 seconds to voice your idea, Athy."  
"Just don't do it, he's not worth it!"  
"We're superheroes in magical outfits, we'll be fine!" Sheikhan reasoned, "You were unscathed when we were fighting the Hemlock Queen and her boyfriend!"  
"They weren't on vehicles that could _explode_ if something went wrong!"  
 _"Hey Boss, these two married'r somethin'?"_ Rabbit Beamer was just staring at them with a very dulled expression.  
 **"That is Irrelevant. The symbiosis between the two has been apart of countless generations. My part in this shall always be greater."  
** _"Meh. Whatevs, time to break the loveboids up!"_ Without a second thought the Gufuu charged at them with a manic cackle.  
Sheikhan heard him coming and managed to swerve out of the way, "See? If we don't do it we'll get attacked! It's practically tradition at this point!" He then felt a dull sensation hit his back, "What was that?"  
"My head hitting your back since I lack a nearby wall to hit my head against." Athena muffled but extremely irritated monotone explained her current mood quite clearly.  
"Wouldn't that hurt because of the helmet?"  
"I'm fine."  
"I'm sorry my goddess, but we've got to charge forward or we're sitting ducks!" Sheikhan revved the engines and rode after Rabbit Beamer, Athena holding onto him for dear life.  
 _"So let's play cucco then!"_ Beamer got his Tornado Rod at the ready.  
 _'Men!'_ Athena thought with an eyeroll. "Please don't do bird jokes, I'm still recovering from the one you cracked in our first fight."  
"Busy fighting for our lives while riding something that might explode, jokes aren't on my mind!"  
 _"Geeze, will the married couple just shut up fer one second!?"_  
"HE'S/SHE'S NOT MY HUSBAND/WIFE!"  
 _"Riiiiiiiiiight."_ Rabbit Beamer summoned up another cyclone and sent it at the two, whatever objects between him and them being picked up and used as projectiles.  
With some surprised yelping from the heroes, avoiding the obstacles was fairly easy. It was trying to _stay_ at a constant speed with their opponent while trying to dodge the attacks that was another story.  
"If we can just get close enough to hit him!" Sheikhan growled while gripping the handlebar reigns in frustration.  
"I could hit a tire if we get close enough! But we'd need to be as perfectly parallel as possible, otherwise our close proximity will mess up my shooting!"  
"Very well, as you command, my goddess! Come on Epona, HYAH!" With a revving whinny, the chase went into overdrive!  
Epona bolted at Sheerow, the smaller vehicle keeping a good distance. They sped through the traffic and Beamer was getting annoyed, not only with their persistence, but he could feel Boarova's presence building even more.  
 **"Enough with these games, Frazz. You are to get me the Miraculous or you shall suffer!"  
** _"Ya think I ain't tryin' out here!? The dog's on a motorcycle horse and boidbrain nearly took out my face earlier!"_ He complained while speeding through a 4-way intersection.  
 **"No, I don't think you are."**  
Beamer's arm went numb at his side, yet he still felt it moving as he pulled out an hourglass staff.  
 **"So allow me to SHOW YOU HOW IT IS DONE!"**  
Rabbit Beamer's arm swung the Sand Rod and suddenly, the entire street was engulfed in a sandstorm.  
"Oh, that's not good…" Sheikah muttered while watching the sand come at them, quickly changing directions so as to escape their sandy doom.  
 _'I have a bad feeling that just trying to ride our way out isn't going to work…'_ Athena thought while she watched the sands gather.  
 _"Hey, gimme back my arm!"_ Rabbit Beamer screeched as he tried to move the arm Boarvoa was claiming.  
 **"Your incompetence is trying my patience!"** Boarova snarled. Beamer's arm moved on its own again, the sandstorm dissipating, leaving a mountainous plateau of sand, that had nowhere else to go but down.  
"Sand-valanche!"  
"Now is not the time for jokes, Sheik!"  
Any more quips were silenced as the mountain came crashing down on them, releasing a tsunami-tier sand wave.  
Athena held onto her partner, her wings trying to cover the both of them in some futile attempt to shield the oncoming attack… when they started to glow, make a copy of themselves and reformed on Epona, the wing copy now the same bronze coloration instead of Athena's blue. Then Epona started to fly away like a Pegasus of old.  
"Since when can Epona do _this!?_ "  
"I don't know!" Regardless of this newfound weirdness, he let out a whoop as they ascended into the sky.  
 _"OH COME ON!"_ Rabbit Beamer screeched as he saw the motorbike soar in the air. _"How the bloody taboo does THAT work?!"_  
 **"Fate coddles the ill-prepared at the most inconvenient of times."** Boarvoa growled.  
Beamer flailed in frustration, pulling out the Tornado Rod and the Ice Rod. _"It's time I grounded those cheapskates!"_ In a furious flurry he summoned ice blocks in the air and used the Tornado Rod to launch the icy projectiles after Sheikhan Wolf and Athena.  
"Ice blocks!" Athena shouted in alarm, clinging to Sheikhan very, very tightly as he moved Epona about to dodge Beamer's attempts to take them down.  
"A little looser please, I need to breathe." Sheikhan coughed a bit.  
"Sorry!" Athena tried to relax her grip despite how wracked her nerves are currently, "Another one at 7 o'clock!"  
Sheikhan managed to dodge the attack yet again, "We can't stay up here, any ideas?"  
Athena lifted her helmet visor and looked at Rabbit Beamer, "If we could get his Rods away from we'd have a better chance of fighting him. That, and take out his transportation so he can't get away again."  
"On it!" Sheikhan dove down to the giant sandbox, the Rabbit Beamer in sight.  
Athena shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to see how quickly they were descending to the ground. It was one thing when she was flying, _that_ she could control, this was a different experience and a frightening one at that!  
"We'll be okay!" Sheikhan encouraged as he had one hand let go of the handle, took his clawshot and steadied his arm for the Ice Rod, "Even if he does hit us, I'll cushion your fall!"  
 _'Well isn't that a mixed reaction sentiment! Thoughtful but not all that hopeful for our chances of survival!'_ Athena yelled in her head.  
The ice blocks came in more frequently as they were closing in. Sheikhan found it hard to try and aim for the Ice Rod while trying to dodge the more frequent projectiles, "Athy, you're gonna have to grab the rod from him!"  
Athena found the clawshot more or less shoved into her hands, "Keep steady, Sheik!" She took a deep breath and held the clawshot out, ready to fire, trying her hardest to focus in on the thin body of the Ice Rod...  
All of a sudden, a giant hand blocked their view, causing the two of them to crash into it, and losing momentum.  
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" they both screamed as they fell towards the sand. Sheikhan grabbed at Athena's arms and leaped off with her, making sure that he would hit the ground first. He found that the landing wasn't quite as quick to come as he thought due to Athena using her wings to attempt keeping them out of further harm and to stay aloft longer.  
"Oof! Oww… see? What'd I tell you?" Sheikhan said dazed. "Cushioning."  
At some point during the fall the helmet was abandoned by Athena and she found her face right onto Sheikh's chest. _'I can hear his heartbeat…'_ Speaking of, hers was going rather fast due to the rush of the attack, the fall and being _this_ close to him. "Are you okay?" She asked after remembering that she has to sit up and promptly got off of him.  
"I'll live." He nodded and jumped to his feet, following the action with a bit of a stretch and then unsheathing his sword when he heard Rabbit Beamer's cackles.  
 _"Awww, too bad on you, schmucks! Nyehehehaa~!"_ Beamer taunted on top of Sheerow, which was now hovering across the sand with his own wings on his bike.  
"Cheater!" Sheikhan growled.  
"It may also be the work of Boarvoa." Athena stated as she summoned her bow and prepared to shoot.  
The attack was cut short as the cry of one hundred thousand horses echoed, and the Epona bike surged in between them, but as it was falling, the wheels slipped into the chassis and four clanks showed the appearance of hooved legs, and the front of the bike lengthened to appear as plated armor.  
"No way..." the duo whispered as the hooves touched down.  
 _'I have a mecha!'_ Sheikhan squeed on the inside, his inner child and current self flailing with glee.  
 _"Who's the cheater now!?"_ Beamer yelled in great frustration as he rode over. He found himself forced to stop since Epona wouldn't let him get any closer.  
Epona snorted, 'eyes' shining with fire and turned its exhaust to Beamer. In one swift and precise motion, it reared its hind legs and walloped right into Sheerow's headlights, launching both it and rider a way's away. _"OH COME OOOOON!"  
_ With a bobbing nod and another thrum of its engine, the magical bike turned its attention back to the heroes, before lowering its head to their level.  
Sheikhan had a huge grin on his face, a soft and high-pitched "Eeeeee" coming out as he speed walked over to hug his magical mecha horse, "You're the coolest summon yet!" He then leaped up to Epona's back to continue the fight… only to end up falling off seconds after mounting.  
Athena hurried over to help him up, "It's always a good idea to get on slowly."  
"I was excited, can ya blame me?" Sheikhan muttered as he tried again, this time more calmly. "...Athy, how do you get a horse to go?"  
"You gently squeeze your lower legs."  
"Thanks!" He did so and soon found that Epona was just as fast - if not faster - in horse form. He also figured out that he had no idea how to make Epona go in directions due to no handlebars to work with now. "ATHYYYYYYYY!"  
"Hang on!" Athena flew after him and stopped Epona by pulling back on the reins she took the time to locate. "Whoa there!"  
Epona stopped and pawed at the sand like nothing happened.  
Sheikhan slid off again with a groan, which got louder with impact. "Guh... Remind me to get horse-riding lessons."  
 _'I'll see if there's some way you can take them with me.'_ Athena thought while nodding and helping him back up again. "I could take the reins, if you so wish?"  
"Be my guest." Though he wasn't sure about her riding ability, he just hoped she actually knew what to do.  
"Very well!" Athena got herself on as though she was born riding horses, then held a hand out to help Sheikhan Wolf up.  
Sheikhan blinked a few times before grabbing her hand and settling himself behind her, "How did you _do_ that!?"  
"Years of practice." She stated truthfully, then with a squeeze of her legs and moving the reigns a bit they were off once more, this time with much more control. She had to remember _not_ to focus on Sheikhan's arms around her waist as they rode off where Rabbit Beamer was bucked away. It got easier to not focus on his muscles as she went into equestrian mode and got into the rhythm of the ride.  
 _'She has got to be the coolest girl I know… next to Zelda, of course.'_ Sheikhan thought. He eventually moved his arms and just had his hands on her shoulders since she was starting to lean forward like racers do on their horses. _'She is serious about this. At least one of us knows how to handle horseback, thank goodness. Her wings are kinda annoying though since they block a lot of my view. She's the only one who can kinda take them off though, can't be helped.'_

Everything was spinning. The ground, the sky - wait, which was which again? The blue stuff is the sky, right. Rabbit Beamer found that he had, by some great miracle, survived being bucked by a bronze bronco, with Sheerow nearby and looking unscathed for the most part. There were dents where Sheerow's 'eyes' were, but the glass was still intact and seemed to be still ridable. _"Those two're gonna pay, literally! It's gonna take a couple thousand Rupees for these here dents!"_ He seethed while getting Sheerow off the ground.  
 **"You're wasting time, Frazz."** Boarova snarled. **"Get me the Miraculous before sundown or this contract will be voided!"**  
 _"I'm pro'ly gonna regret askin', but what happens if the contract goes void?"_ Rabbit Beamer asked while straddling his ride once more.  
 **"You may recall the circumstances of the last one to fail me?"**  
Beamer thought on that, then gulped on remembering how that one was speared. _"O-Oh. G-Got'cha, boss!"  
_ **"Good. NOW DO YOUR JOB OR I'LL DO IT FOR YOU!"  
** _"Yessir!"_ Beamer squeaked and raced to where he last remembered seeing the superhero duo. As luck would have it, he spotted the gleam of Epona's coloring off in the distance. _"Poyfect!"_ He revved up Sheerow and peeled out, _"Now yer both gonna get it!"  
_ "Don't bet on it!" Sheikhan stated from behind the very focused rider, scarf bobbing in the wind with the rhythm of Epona. The steel hooves pounded into the sand as she charged forward at Athena drover her on. She was bent on catching Rabbit Beamer and ceasing his chaos.  
 _"Oh I'm bettin'!"_ Beamer brandished the fire rod. _"ALL ON RED!"_ he launched a stream on fire on the ground, scorching the sands and melting them, becoming reflective and solid.  
"Glass!" Sheikhan warned.  
"We'll be fine!" Athena called. "Epona's non-living, and the hooves are solid metal!"  
 _"Show's what you know, TOOTS!"_ Beamer slammed the sand rod on the ground, and the dunes began to rumble and shake. The glass shattered as the sand lurched up, making a wave of spikes.  
Athena found herself having to avoid the glass shards over now very rocky roads, Sheikhan holding on for dear life. Though due to the constant serpentine he found it hard to keep a solid grip on her for long, which resulted in him grabbing her wings.  
Resulting in them popping off as though they were accessories on a toy.

"..."  
"AHHHHHHHHH!"  
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
"I'M SORRY, ATHY!"  
"YOU _PULLED_ OFF MY WINGS!"  
"ARE YOU IN PAIN?"  
"NO, WHICH IS WHY I'M PANICKING FURTHER."  
"I'M SORRY!"  
During their screaming session, the wings morphed into wing-like boomerangs in Sheikhan's hands.  
"ATHY, I CAN USE YOUR WINGS AS WEAPONS?"  
"You can!?"  
"Yeah, apparently they're… boomerangs?"  
"Hit Rabbit Beamer in the torso then, that's where his weak spot is!"  
"On it!"  
Now they just had to avoid getting hurt from all the glass being kicked up one way or another.  
 _"You're not getting away!"_ Beamer yelled as he swung the Tornado Rod, collecting the sand and glass into a column of death.  
Sheikhan stood on Epona's seat awkwardly, and with all the force he could muster, threw both of the weaponized wings, two smaller gales erupted, dissipating the sand torrent, and flying past to Beamer.  
Rabbit Beamer flailed as the wind was, rather literally, knocked out of him from the impact of the collision and was soon on the ground once more, Sheerow only stopping (loudly) because of the laws of force. Once the boomerangs returned, they reformed back into Athena's wings  
 _"RRRRGH! THAT'S IT!"_ he roared. _"I'm gonna flay you so hot no sunscreen's gonna -huh?"_ Beamer stopped his rant as he tried to grasp the Fire rod, only to find it missing and flying into the hands of his opponents. _"WHAT?!"  
_ "Excellent work, my goddess!" Sheikhan praised as he carefully settled back to sitting on Epona.  
"It helps that I have you as backup and that you carry the clawshot around!" Athena blushed under the praise.  
"Now, let's give this guy a major case of road burn!" Sheikhan started up the Fire Rod, only to be interrupted by Athena.  
"He still has control over wind and ice, he'd easily use both against us with the fire!" She warned.  
"Okay, so what do we do?" Sheikhan huffed.  
 _'Wait a moment… '_ Athena noticed something off. "Does Rabbit Beamer look… bloated?"  
 _'I know Ravio's not the most in-shape guy I know, but…'_ "Yeah, something _does_ seem off with his torso." Sheikhans's sight went to his wrist and saw the paw flashing its green light repeatedly. Not like it was going out, but like it was waiting for something. He looked to the Fire Rod and back to the bracelet, and shrugged before tapping the rod on the face of his Miraculous. There was a spark of energy that leaped from the Miraculous that swirled around the rod like small winds.  
"Sheik, what was that?" Athena picked up something in her peripherals but couldn't really look back to see.  
"I think this became a permanent member of my inventory?" was his guess.  
"Let's see if we can get the others then! Hyha!"  
"Gyaa!" Sheikhan now had to awkwardly juggle between holding his new new weapon and trying to not fall.  
 _"I'll get those Miraculous from your cold, dead bodies if I have to!"_ RB yelled as he hurled ice blocks at them.  
"Sheikhan, the rod!"  
Sheikhan Wolf gave a fancy twirl with his fingers (he'll question how he knew that trick later), the rod morphing in the process as a dragon formed from the flames and shot out, the blocks turning into harmless steam above their heads in the process. "I like this!" he beamed.  
"I'm borrowing that when need be!" Athena's jaw just about dropped from her face due to the display.  
 _"Aww c'mon!"_ Rabbit Beamer seethed as he pulled out his 3 remaining rods and used them in rapid succession.  
"Not good!" The heroes chorused as Sheikhan used fire to annihilate what Athena and Epona couldn't easily dodge.  
This tactic, though very raw in power, ended up taking a lot out of Rabbit Beamer and soon found himself huffing and puffing, his torso region expanding in the process as well. He also got his last 3 rods stolen away by Athena's quick wit and clawshot skills. _"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
_ "Okay, now to try something I haven't before." Athena dropped the reins and readied her bow.  
"My goddess?" Sheikhan saw that she was going to shoot, "You _do_ know how to do horseback archery, right?"  
"Not in the slightest."  
"What!?"  
Athena let loose a standard arrow at the eye across Rabbit Beamer's expanded middle, which resulted in the Gufuu-possessed one to fly around while expelling all the air like in a children's cartoon, funny noises and all.  
 _"WHAAAAYIIYIYIYIYIYIYIIIOOOOOOUUUUUGHPFFFFbbbbbtfbbfbfbbrb…"_  
The only reason the heroic duo didn't laugh was because they were focused on finally purifying him. Sheikhan quickly did a backflip dismount off of Epona and figured to try the Sand Rod out a bit. He raised it up quickly to move the sands under Rabbit Beamer's form, which resulted in said form being launched up into the sky due to the sudden force.  
Athena did a sudden stop on Epona and used the motion to launch herself into the sky, time slowing around her as her arrow filled itself with glorious light magic. "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" She released the arrow and got a direct hit on the Gufuu eye.  
"I got'cha!" Sheikhan jumped up and caught the now freed Ravio.  
"Whaa! Sh-Sheikhan Wolf? Where am I?" Ravio was confused as all get out as the green-clad hero set him on his feet and noticed the Gufuu starting to flee.  
"I'll explain in a few seconds." Sheikhan thought for a moment, grabbed his clawshot and reeled the flailing thing in, he then pulled out his odd little whistle and stuffed the flying blob into the center of it, "Now, Athy!" he called while throwing it up into the air.  
"Miraculous restoration!" Athena shot another arrow at the Gufuu and turned it into a Navii, which Sheikhan collected and sent on its merry way. Soon all things were as though a big fight didn't destroy a good portion of the Geldo and Hyrule districts.  
"Aww man… no way is my boss gonna take me back after this." Ravio's form leaned forward in sadness.  
"We'll see about that. Sheikhan, might I borrow Epona to help Ravio out?"  
 _'She knows my name?'_ Ravio looked over to her in surprise.  
"Of course, my goddess, just be quick about it. I don't know if she's connected to the time on my Miraculous or not."  
"Thank you!" Athena gave him a quick hug and, after finding Epona (who was a bike again) and helping Ravio up, rode away back to the Hyrule district.  
"Speaking of…" Sheikhan muttered to himself as he checked to see just how much time he did have. 'Still two paw pads? Note to self: ask how and why later. Better not waste any time then!' And so he was off, running as quickly as his legs could take him.

The ring of flames flickered and surged and the dark lord's ire.  
"It was too good to try and attempt a courier for a delivery." Boarova grumbled, waving the trident in absence. "But mark my words, Athena. You and your pet will become the package deal of my triumph!"

Ravio held the sides of the seat awkwardly as Athena cruised down the road. The bike somehow formed a helmet with floppy rabbit ears that Ravio put on, though it was a bit embarrassing. "Hey, um… Miss Athena?"  
"Yes?"  
"I don't really remember what happened, but… I didn't do anything _too_ bad, did I?"  
"You didn't severely harm any civilians, if that's what you mean." Athena stated, "Any and all damage will have been fixed by the Navii."  
"And I didn't say anything... specific, right?"  
"Mostly threats against the lives of myself and my partner, but we both know it was the possession that was speaking and not the real you. Your boss was also hidden away by yours truly, so nothing was said to him that would endanger your career completely."  
"Are you taking me to him!?" Ravio squeaked and tightened his grip on the seat.  
"If you wish me to, otherwise I'll stop where you say."  
"...Take me where you hid him. I gotta deal with this now or I never will." He figured to bite the proverbial bullet while he had some moral support. At least he _hoped_ she would be okay with being moral support.  
The two pulled around to one of the shadier neighborhoods, this one located in the Kakariko district.  
"Why here?" Ravio asked as he got off Epona.  
"They import some special milk I thought would help Mister Baagu relax."  
"...Wait, how do you know this?" Ravio never took Athena as a drinker. Was she even old enough?  
"I have a close friend who's taught me a few things." _'Like how much of the milk it takes for her to do karaoke.'_ Never will she forget the time she learned the hard way that Impa is **not** a singer. She knocked on the door of a bar called the Spider House, and the slip opened revealing a masked set of eyes.  
"Spiders eat birds, little girl."  
"Not always." Athena remarked with a subtle glare.  
"The Goddess' light shines upon the night's dark. The wolf's howl echoes..."  
"- Through the Lost Woods' bark." she drawled.  
"Hrm." the doorman grunted. "The webs of our kin are lined with curses. To undo the locks..."  
"- Play the hymnal verses." Athena rolled her eyes. "Come on, Baba. I'm just here to pick up the guy I dropped off."  
"Hero or not, anyone that knows of us must finish the trial to pass." Baba stated before he continued. "A glimmer, a skitter, the blind grating sound of the horde. Claim all the Golden Skulltulas..."  
"- Get the the most righteous reward!" surprisingly, Ravio blurted out the last line.  
Baba and Athena gave Ravio a look before Baba muttered something about getting Baagu and left the two alone for a while.  
"How did you know that?" Athena asked.  
"I...I don't know." Ravio shrunk in fear. "I just remember a storybook that mention a tale of a guy going to collect golden spiders to lift a curse on a family..."  
 _'Well, he's certainly full of surprises.'_ Athena thought, jumping a bit when she heard the door open with Baagu stepping out.  
"Mister Lipast?" Baagu stared at him, "You're… okay?"  
"Heh… hey boss - HOIK!" Ravio did not expect the larger man to grab him in a bear hug.  
"Thank the goddesses you're alright, kid! When I saw that monster wearing your hoodie, I…I thought the worst had happened to you."  
 _'You're welcome.'_ Athena thought with a wry smirk. That's when her Miraculous started to bleep. "Oh! Pardon, I must get going. Things to do, bad guys to stop, all that good stuff!" She quickly hurried over to Epona, got on and waved to the two of them for a bit before departing with a "Wahoo!" on the wheelie.  
Ravio and Baagu looked on as she sped on down the road.  
"She has such a sweet ride…" Ravio sighed the way a daydreamer does when they have a good train of thought going, "Wish I could get a ride like that." _'Without my body being hijacked by some crazy guy from who knows where.'_ He added mentally.  
Baagu only have a hum of acknowledgement and a nod to his employee's statement. "It's best we get to our respective homes, then." He flagged down a taxi and paid for the ride and some extra for Ravio.

The next day, minus the buzz around Athena and Sheikhan Wolf's newest feat, everything was as normal as such could be in Hyrule. The news was especially rampant at Harkinian Academy since many had recognized the hoodie in what pictures were taken of Rabbit Beamer during his ride around town. Some were speculating along Baagu's train of thought in that he was kidnapped (or worse, as nobody has heard from him yet) and the clothing was being sported as a trophy. A few individuals thought that Rabbit Beamer was Ravio (which they weren't wrong about, as you the reader know) and were trying to figure out how and why he was picked by Boarova.  
The only one currently on school grounds who was keeping their head in place was Link, which was good because Darunia was freaking out at the lack of Brother Ravio. He was of the majority opinion that a terrible fate befell his violet-themed companion and was texting and calling him like nuts.  
"Darunia, I'm pretty sure Athena and Sheikhan Wolf managed to save him!" Link tried to pry the smartphone away from his companion, but Darunia's sumo build prevented such.  
"That may be, Brother, but Ravio would at least contact us and tell us he's alright, wouldn't he?"  
"That's true…" Link sighed and thought, "maybe he's making a delivery right now and can't answer his phone? You know how he gets when he's doing business."  
Darunia nodded with a sigh and dropping his shoulders.  
"Don't worry big guy, he'll get back with us soon enough." Link gave him a bro pat on the shoulder. "After all, Rav's never let us down bef-" his voice caught in his throat as he saw the door to a car open to reveal Zelda stepping out.  
"See you after school!" Zelda waved to Byrne and walked over to Darunia and Link, "Good morning!" she stated while also signing it.  
Link signed a hello back and was now thankful Ravio wasn't here to tease him.  
Darunia was about to say hello as well until they heard something riding over.  
 _'Oh no, please don't be another Gufuu!'_ Link and Zelda thought as the sound came closer and closer…  
As it turns out, it was Ravio! On a shiny new moped colored in a deep violet with red and gold decals tastefully scattered here and there.  
"Brother!" Darunia ran over and stopped once Ravio worked on parking his new ride, then promptly crushed him in a greeting hug.  
"HAAAAUUUUUUNG." Ravio sounded something akin to a deflating bagpipe.  
Link quickly came over and checked Ravio over to make sure he wasn't killed with kindness.  
"Yo! Guess who got a sweet ride~?" Ravio stated after a few recovery breaths.  
"It's amazing, how did you get it?" Zelda asked while walking over to get a better look.  
"Well, after yesterday my boss cut me a bit of slack and got me this baby!" Ravio explained just as the swarm of students arrived to see his new toy.  
"It's beautiful, Ravio." Hilda admired, "I especially like the little golden rabbits here and there."  
"Well what can I say, they're my favorite animal." Ravio blushed while scratching the back of his head.  
"Yo Rav, you gonna give rides out?" Groose asked from somewhere in the crowd.  
"If you're willin' to pay!" Ravio announced with a large grin. This elicited a loud groan from the student body, but they still admired the make of the moped.  
"Of course, since you guys are my bros I'll cut the fee in half." The rabbit dealer stated to his closest friends.  
Link rolled his eyes with a slightly amused grin.  
"I could be your first customer?" Hilda questioned with moving some hair out of her face, "I don't mind paying."  
"Totally!" Ravio's smile got even bigger, "Also willing to cut yours in half for a first-time customer!"  
'And he said I'm thirsty.' Link rolled his eyes again.  
"What about you, Miss Callaghan?" Ravio turned to Zelda with a bit of an eyebrow waggle.  
"It would be best not to, my father wouldn't approve." Zelda gave the other an apologetic look. _'Plus I could use a break from motorized bikes for a while. Epona was fun, but the battles against Rabbit Beamer were taxing.'  
_ "Eh, can't win 'em all." Ravio shrugged. "So, about that offer…" Ravio walked and talked with Hilda a small ways off.  
Link just looked on as his brother chatted with Hilda, sighing in silence as Darunia pulled him in by the shoulder.  
"Ravio's still got a lot of work to do for her affection, right brother?" the larger boy said, a wide grin on his face. "Let's get ready to tease him for that."  
Link smiled wide and dark. He was glad to have friends like that. Looking at Zelda going in with Agitha, she glanced back at him with a smile.  
He was definitely glad.


	4. Blizzeta

**Chapter 4: Blizzeta**

"Greetings viewers, this is Purlo coming to you live! You've turned in just in time to vote for our new weather girl for KidsFAYRE!" The announced stated to those watching the program. He was tall, had a chiseled and pale face, slicked back dark hair and wore a yellow-brown argyle shirt under a green vest. "Remember to use those shiny phones of yours to call in or text your vote for our finalists - Anju or Ashei!" He motioned to those he spoke of with a showman's flair of his hands. "You've got only just a few more minutes, make 'em count!"

To Purlo's left was Anju, a teenaged girl with red auburn hair cut into a cute bob that framed her face, dark blue eyes shining with excitement as she held her hands together. Beside her on the screen was a headshot of her in a blue circle, her name under that and the number to call/text in to vote for her. Across from her was Ashei, a slim female teen with more of a tomboyish look to her, her dark raven hair done up in loose twin braids as she tried to give off more of a strong sense of self compared to Anju's soft and feminine feeling, her brown eyes showing confidence. She also had a headshot in a blue bubble, captioned with her name and the number to vote for her, to her side as well.

"C'mon, Makar, stop running!" Link tried not to sound like he was begging for such, but given how the afternoon has been for him it was quickly starting to become a much better option. He was watching over a kid of his mom's friend's and was very much starting to regret the choice. He liked Makar, usually, but today he was just plain high energy.

The kid jumped around the living room, wearing a big beige wrinkly shirt, a large green baseball cap obscuring his face. "Can't catch me, Link!"

'Remember, he's bound to wear out at some point. Just need to get him to that point…' Link thought as he jumped forward to try and pick the youngster up. "Oh yes I can!" Only to just miss the kid and resumed running.

Bleddyn was safely hidden away in Link's room, putting himself in a near food coma due to pumpkin seed consumption, hearing all the chaos below him. "Man, humans and their pups… even if they're entrusting the pups to another." He winced when he heard a strangled cry of surprise from his chosen and something about needing to find that vase a better place to stay. "I wonder if Brawynn is having these issues too?" he mused to himself before redirecting his focus to his glorious snack.

"Give me my cell, ya little -" the Kwami heard a heavy thump. "Got you!"

"Awww, but I was gonna vote for Anju!" the child called.

"...Brawynn… save me from this boredoooom!" the wolf groaned, faceplanting into some discarded shells.

Link's babysitting shenanigans were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door, "One sec!" He announced while quickly locking his phone and shoving it into his pocket. He winced just a little as he heard Makar moving about and answered the door to find that Darunia was there, "Hey Bro, what's up?"

"Darunia!" the green clad boy said, seeing his larger friend on the other side.

He was wearing his normal light amber flannel shirt, open buttoned outside of school, and his red pants. He chose to omit wearing an undershirt for reasons only he could comprehend, still showing some light tan marks from a prank Ravio did. Nothing insulting, instead it looked like a tribal design that the big guy wholeheartedly enjoyed. Around his thick neck was a necklace made from large arabian cowry shells.

"It's great to see you man, but why stop by?" Link did enjoy getting visits from his bros, but today was an awkward day to hang out thanks to the impromptu babysitting.

"Ravio gave me your portion to deliver since he's on the other side of town for most of the day," he said, holding up a colorful bag of what could only be the international super-candy: Majikdust.

"He actually got it!?" Link's eyes widened as he tenderly took the back from his friend, peeking inside to see swirls of sugar every color of the rainbow inside. "Man, I thought with the little Gufuu incident he forgot about this." _'Mostly because I forgot about it too. Random attacks on your city can do that.'_

"What's that?" Makar showed up seemingly out of nowhere and stared at the two older boys.

"N-Nothing!" Link unceremoniously shoved the bag up his shirt and acted like that totally didn't happen. Makar wasn't convinced at all.

"Aww come on, I wanna see!" Makar tried to reach his hands up Link's shirt, which then resulted in the two running around yet again but with the positions switched.

"Oh boy..." Darunia sighed as he stepped into the fray. Link jumping around while Makar tried to catch him. As Makar ran past him, Darunia scooped him up and spun around to fall on his back, holding the small boy to his chest. "Gotcha!"

"Lemme go, I wanna see what Link's got!" Makar flailed a bit, "Lemme go, mountain guy!"

"Bwahaha! Take it easy, ya little leaf!"

"I'm no leaf!" Makar huffed, adjusting his hat enough to give a pouty-faced glare at Darunia.

"Thank you. Can you watch him for a few moments while I store this in a safer place?" Link took the bag out from his shirt and hid it behind his back now.

"Of course!" Darunia nodded.

"Thanks again!" Link quickly headed back upstairs to his room and closed the door with a great sigh of relief.

Dark green was the main color, reminding Link of a forest. The dark hardwood floors matched well with his dresser, which was currently holding a small stack of books, some action figures and sticky note reminders scattered here and there on the drawers themselves. At the far end of the room was a ladder that led up to a small elevated area where his bed was located. Below that was a desk with a laptop, papers here and there and some small posters of various video games and anime icons donning the area. In about mid-center was a futon-type couch that was a gray-green… and covered in shell bits. He made a mental note to speak to Bleddyn, who he was glaring at through the reflection of the TV in front of the couch, about his messes. He had to keep the place decently clean if he wanted to keep his cosplay stuff up here, which was in a corner opposite where his left bed was and pooled just about to where his closet was located, otherwise it means it'll all go back to the basement.

The reason why no clothes were strewn about was again, because of Bleddyn. The Kwami tried making a den out of it all, and if his mom came in, there would more than likely be a soaked soap sud puppy with a bad mood.

"Bleddyn, I know it's been some time since you've had a roommate…" Link said with a strained smile as he went over to his closet to hide away Ravio's gift, "but it's just common sense to _not_ leave your food scraps on the couch, ya know?" he stashed the bag on the top shelf with some fabrics then whipped his head over to the couch and walked over so that he could make absolutely sure Bleddyn was hearing him, "Ya got it?" He asked while leaning over the side of the couch.

"Guaaaaaah! Too bored to caaaaare!"

"Then I guess I'll just leave you up here until you learn some manners then." Link stated rather darkly as he turned and started leaving. 'Why me? Why did I have to end up living with someone with his personality?'

"Take me with you!" Bleddyn cried as he flew from behind the couch futon.

"Can't, still babysitting and now I have Darunia ov-" Link stopped on hearing drums, "You hear that too, right?" Without waiting for an answer, he raced back downstairs to see what in the world was going on with drums and… was that a violin? "Waaaaaait a second…" he slowed his pace just a little bit to gather his thoughts and soon found his bud and Makar playing instruments in the living room, Darunia on some bongos and Makar with a violin holding it like a cello. He knew Makar carried around the violin like it was his security blanket (which it is), but where did Darunia get the bongos? _'Wait, doesn't Dad own… yeah I think I brought it up a few times with the guys. Hope Dad's okay with this.'_ He entered and watched the two play for a bit before clapping, "That sounded great!"

"Many thanks, brother!" Darunia beamed.

"Wait, he's not your brother! How come you called him that?" Makar was now very confused.

"It just means I'm considered family." Link explained while walking over to them and plopping himself onto the couch.

"Ooh… can I be a brother too?" Makar questioned while looking up at the older, tanner teen.

Darunia let out a good-natured laugh, "Only if you think you can handle being brothers with Haumia, god of wild plants!"

"I totally can! Just you watch!" One could hear the sparkle in Makar's eyes. Shortly after that he was distracted by the TV, as young children often are. "The voting results are in!"

Purlo was on screen again with the lovely Anju and Ashei, "Welcome back everyone! We've counted the results, and our winner for our weather kid is…" he paused for dramatic effect as a drum roll played while a small bar graph showed up below him to show the results.

"Anju!" She won by a near landslide, managing to get 90% of the votes. Purlo politely clapped, Anju jumped up and down in excitement and Ashei looked rather surprised and upset about the whole scenario.

"Yaaaaaaaaaay!" Makar cheered.

Link noticed Ashei's reaction and got a little worried. He may not be the brightest at times, but he's figured out some kind of pattern with the Gufuu - it involves negativity in one's self. He just hoped that whatever was going on in Ashei's head wouldn't result in her being hijacked.

What he didn't know was how wrong he was to have this hope.

"A big thanks to all of those who voted, we'll see Anju in action as the KidsFAYRE weather girl when we see _you_ next time!" Purlo announced with some jazz hands.

"And cut!" Announced the director, ending the production. As the bell for wrapping up went off, Ashei left in a huff and headed to the nearest elevator.

"This is so unfair! I've had _years_ of training, my predictions are way more accurate, and yet everyone picks the bubbly one in the end!?" She ranted to herself while leaning a bit against the elevator wall. "Just goes to show, people will pick cute over professionalism!" she added with a growl.

The flames lit across the circle as the armored boot stepped forth. Boarova chuckled as the sun shone through the cavern.

"Ahh, the despair of loss, eating away at the heart. What a perfect opportunity to plunder the spoils of defeat."

He looked to the cavern walls, eyes falling to a depiction of a strange cluster floating above the horde. With a snap of his fingers, the image melted into a black ball that floated to its master.

"Gufuu." the ball opened its single eye and blinked. "Find this distraught child."

The Gufuu flapped it's wings and soared up to the skylight.

"Go, my Gufuu, and claim another for the bleakness of this world!"

Ashei continued her walk of defeat, until she decided that she needed to freshen up at least a little bit to hide how upset she was in the bathroom. After making sure nobody was around, she looked at herself in the mirror; yes her eyes were a bit puffy from some crying and her face was a little tear-stained, but she could at least wash the tears off. With a sigh and some paper towels, she worked on doing so.

What she didn't know was that she was being watched… at least until the Gufuu became closer and Ashei spotted its reflection. "What the -!?" She spun around to figure out what she was seeing."A… flying… blob?"

The Gufuu landed on the counter, looking around the room with a purr in its voice.

"A flying blob that purrs. Well it's not like this day could get any worse, might as well just accept this… thing and see what it can do." She walked over and cupped the Gufuu in her hands, "What _are_ you?" her breathing hitched as the Gufuu's gaze pierced her, and it jumped into her face. Ashei slumped over, and black scales formed around her eyes.

 **"Quite the curious one, aren't you, my dear? I am Boarova. Your chances of victory were squandered by more than mere luck. I believe that your competition is actually in a relationship with the mayor's son."**

Ashei's eyes went wide before she glowered. "Then that would mean -!"

 **"Yes, deceit was the name of their game. So why don't we make them play a game of our own? All you would need to do is get the proper pieces for it, the Miraculous Stones of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf."**

Ashei smirked. "They won't know what hit them."

 **"Excellent. Now go, Blizzeta, and show them why revenge is a dish, best served cold."**

"Oh trust me, _I WILL!_ " As the black scales spread across her body, everything in the bathroom started to get frosted over, snow started to pile up in various locations, the mirrors shattered and a gargling cackle rung through when the door was blown off by strong arctic level winds.

Needless to say, chaos broke out at the studio fast and hard.

As much as Zelda hated to think this, she _had_ to get better at making up lies. Due to being absent during a good majority of the day thanks to the city being endangered, whenever someone came to her room she wasn't there. She had said she was in her bathroom doing business in there, but she wasn't convincing of such. That, and some of the house security footage saw her outside; she half-cursed it due to Sheikhan Wolf not being caught on tape, which relieved her, but it also incriminated her. She was now paying for it by having to wait for her father to finish up a business meeting. For now she was fiddling with the small satchel she had brought with her every now and again, which had hidden Brawynn. She thought to bring her book bag but figured she shouldn't due to how big it is and how it might raise suspicion.

Impa was sitting nearby, reading a book while wearing half moon reading glasses. She had thought a few times to take Zelda out to see the Peak District and all its interesting hot spots - there was the police academy to the more north of the area to see the training done first hand at least from viewing the courses done outside, the skiing resort in about the center of the town and some haunted houses scattered here and there that are preserved due to being landmarks. However, Gustaf specifically stated that she is to be nearby where he is at all times unless she needed to use the bathroom - even then, Impa would have to go in with her and wait (unless it was one of those single-person restrooms, then she was to wait outside; Zelda checked).

Suddenly, their uncomfortable silence was broken when the sounds of something unhuman rang through the air and it started to become colder and colder… and when the sound of a fire alarm went off (due to some brave but poor soul who was soon iced after that) Impa was quick to escort them out as quickly and safely as possible.

That was when they ran into a large golem of ice crashing through the halls.

"By the goddesses!" Gustaf yelled in surprised, getting in front of his daughter, "Zelda, run!"

Impa was also quick to get in front of her boss, "You too, Mister Callaghan!"

Gustaf grabbed Zelda's hand and ran off while Impa stayed behind to at least try to fight off this monstrosity. She found herself doing more dodges and getting more people out instead of actual fighting though.

Back with father and daughter, they were trying to find some sort of exit out of the building, but generally found only iced over doors and the windows frozen shut. Though Gustaf didn't consider himself a religious man, he was muttering prayers every few steps for help and to get out safely.

"Come on, there's gotta be something around here that's not covered in ice!" Zelda seethed under her breath as she checked to find that, yet again, another potential exit was crossed out. "Din's Fire!" She yelled a little too loudly in her frustration, for it triggered an ice stalactite to start wiggling!

"Zelda!" Gustaf managed to push his child out of the way and to avoid being hit, but the ice had a mind of its own and reformed into a wall.

"Father!" Zelda pounded on the wall despite the burning sting it left and noticed that he looked more relieved than scared.

"I'll be fine," he put his hands on the cold wall that separated them and let out a shaky sigh, "you keep going!" Gustaf instructed, "Stay safe, Zelda, please."

Zelda could only nod as she placed her hands where her father's were on the other side, her eyes starting to form pricks of tears (which she had to remove with haste due to the cold around her) and reluctantly ran off.

"Zelda," Brawynn came out from her hiding place once they turned a corner and flew beside her, "I know you had wished to escape with your father before going to fight, but it cannot be helped right now. I can see it in your eyes, you're worried the cold might get to him before we can get out."

Zelda looked to her, "But what can I do? I only have my bow and I can't contact Wolfie!"

Brawynn pondered as she floated in front of her bearer. "If you were both transformed, you could contact each other through the Miraculous, but it's a bare chance..." her feathers bristled as she let out a frustrated squawk. "Ugh! It's times like this I wish that Kwami could just… burst out!"

Zelda's eyes shined with inspiration. "Burst out… that's it! Brawynn, spread your wings!" Once transformed into Athena, she worked on getting her inspiration into gear. "Remember, you can restore things once the Gufuu has been taken care of…" she muttered to herself as she readied her bow, concentrating on a different sort of light magic that she found within her after thinking about it. The arrowhead started to spark as though it was a lit fuse of a firework, then she took a deep breath and released it straight up as much as she physically could, "Firelight Explosion!" The arrow shot through the floors (and eventually the roof) above her as though they were just paper, the display setting off blue-colored flames of her Miraculous' form - and boy did she hope her partner got the hint!

Bleddyn laid on the windowsill begrudgingly munching on some pumpkin seeds. They weren't much, but they would have to do for them to go in season. Oh how he missed all the lovely baked pumpkin goods he was given in the past! Small pies, cupcakes, even a brew or two… though his trip down food memory lane was stopped when he found the Miraculous of Wisdom against the sky in blue fire. "OH NO, WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ATHY!? LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!"

"Did you hear something?" Darunia looked around while scratching his head.

 _'What is it_ now _, Bleddyn!?'_ Link thought while faking like he didn't hear a thing. "Nope. Must be the house settling a bit."

"It kinda sounded like a voice." Makar mumbled while looking around.

"Yeah, sometimes old houses can make pretty weird noises." Link explained, hoping that would throw the two of them off, "Plus there's my mom's dance studio in the back and all…"

"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAHAAAAAUUUUUGH!"

"Link, pretty sure that was a voice there!" Makar decided to hide behind Darunia.

"I'll go see what it is." Link grumbled to himself as he went to his room, "What is it!?" he whisper-yelled.

"Danger! Doom! Athy! Help! NOW!" the Kwami freaked as he pointed out the window.

The only parts he got were about Athena and doom, "What's going on!?" He whisper-yelled a little louder as he looked outside… and his jaw dropped the moment he did. "Merciful goddesses above."

"WE NEED TO GO!" Bleddyn shrieked.

"I KNOW!" Link yelled back, covering his mouth and looked to his door. No verbal sign of the other two hearing him yell for no good reason… "Darunia can drive!"

"So you're gonna convince him to drive alllllllllllllll the way there _how?_ " Bleddyn crossed his front paws like a human would their arms when skeptical about something.

"BROTHER! GRAB A COAT!"

 _"Why?"_ Link called as he grabbed one from the kind of abyss that is his closet. (He's lost more socks and thread in there than anywhere else in the house)

"FAYRE Studios is under a blizzard! I saw Zelda's bodyguard on camera!"

"WHAT!?" Link was now running and putting his coat on at the same time, Bleddyn slipping into the hood.

"What's going on?" Makar asked, as Darunia slipped the boy into one of Link's old kid coats.

"There's a princess in need of saving, Young Leaf." the large young man said as he hefted on a larger beige coat. "And Brother Link is her devoted knight."

Link pulled up his coat hood to hide the fact that his face was redder than a tomato right now. _'DARUNIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'_ he wept mentally.

"Really! A real princess!" Makar's eyes twinkled.

"Indeed. Now, _to the Daroon Buggy!_ "

"I still can't believe you kept the name after Ravio coined it." Link muttered with a snicker.

"Le's go, le's go!" Makar chanted as he ran to the door, the older boys following him quickly.

The Daroon Buggy was in fact a custom Jeep Wrangler with an open frame top, the color a dark ruby red. Even at a first glance one could tell it was also well taken-care of, and with further inspection had the low-key scent of cinnamon.

"Shotgun!" Link called.

"Aww, I wanted shotgun!" Makar pouted a little bit as he was helped into the back.

"Maybe on the way back." Link stated after buckling Makar and himself in, "Okay Darunia, punch it!"

"OH YEAH!" the driver roared as he shifted gear and slammed the gas pedal down. The wheels screeched as he pulled off of the side of the road and down the street, going the legal speed allowed in that area.

 _'Oh right, he's still gotta follow road rules…'_ Link sighed. He really hoped that traffic to the Peak District wasn't horrific.

As luck would have it, more traffic was heading _away_ from Peak, which could be seen when they stopped at a light.

"That… is a _very_ bad sign." Link's mouth was just a bit ajar before speaking.

"Ya think?" came a new voice that also moved the Jeep around a tad while entering the vehicle.

"Who's the girl with red hair?" Makar asked while staring at their new guest.

 _'Red hair…'_ "Nabooru?" Link turned to see the tanned redhead wearing… a parka?

"Hey." She nonchalantly waved a gloved hand at her classmate and then buckled herself in. "Heading over to the Peak Dstrict, right? Don't mind me, just tagging along."

"You've gotta be kidding me…" Link grumbled to himself and then looked to Darunia, "She can't do this, right? It's _your_ Jeep, do something?"

Darunia was about to comment when he noticed the light turned green and kept driving. Looks like Nabooru would be sticking around…

* * *

Athena was flying around through the chilling winds, silently screaming at the fact her costume wasn't exactly winter-friendly and that the cold wasn't easy on her wings either. What also didn't help was that she was stuck in a building she knew nothing about and was wandering around blindly, barely being skewered by icicles in the process. 'I can't stop, Father needs me. I just need to find some _kind of exit!'_ That was when she also discovered that the Gufuu's magic was pretty powerful this time, as she came across a strange ice formation that possessed nearly a dozen red eyes that started breathing cold winds in her direction. She was fortunate enough to have not been hit, but even then the radiant cold was enough of a hint to not get close. A few arrows managed to demolish them and she continued her trek through the building.

And then the area became colder when Athena realized that she had ended up in the lobby, right where more of those ice creatures were, though these ones were lacking the mass of the one beforehand that did more damage. Then the cold only got worse on seeing a frozen form near another grouping of those ice-breathed monsters, the form of… Impa!

"NOOOOOOO!" she had forgotten that she was in the middle of danger on seeing her mother figure stuck as an ice statue, which caused the creatures to turn to her. Anger seething and clouding her mind, she pulled back her bow with such force that the Light Arrow split into three. "You'll pay for that!" she yelled as she released the arrows, striking true on them. Once that was fixed, she worked on chipping Impa out with an arrow in each hand, not trusting herself to shoot and miss her body in the process. "Just hang on, I'll get you out!" She grunted and growled with each strike put forward into breaking the ice to save Impa, though such a distraction might cost her dearly…

"Help! Please! Somebody help me!" she heard someone call out. Near the restroom she saw someone banging on the ice.

Athena stopped and looked between Impa and the voice a few times as conflict settled in on her. As much as she wanted to free her bodyguard out there and then, her selfish desires can't outweigh the needs of civilians in danger. _'I'll come back, promise.'_ She thought as she flew over, "Hang on, I'm coming! Stand away from the door, I'll have to shoot it down!" She landed, re-summoned her bow and fired. "Are you hurt?" she asked on entering the bathroom.

"I'm f-f-f-f-fiinnnne." the girl shivered as she collapsed.

Athena gasped and quickly collected the girl. "Miss, can you hear me? Miss!" She gently shook the other before picking her up and carrying her out. She made a mental note that her superhero form has a degree of super strength. _'First Impa, now this… what I wouldn't do for Wolfie to just burst through the front door like in action movies.'_

"Ughh..." the girl groaned.

"Good, you're alright." Athena sighed in relief, but something crawled up her spine.

"Oh… I will be..." the girl lashed out her hand to the hero's neck, only for Athena to drop her and leap back. "Once I get that _Miraculous..._ " the girl's head stayed down as she stood up, her hair swaying as it lolled side to side, shadowing her eyes.

'Oh you're kidding _me!'_ Athena thought as she flew back to put some more distance between the two of them, _'Where's her weak spot, come on arrow vision thing!'_

"He _he_ he _he_ he..." the girl steadily laughed. " _I_ would _have_ won the _contest_ if _it_ wasn't _for_ her _little_ boyfriend…"

 _'That might explain how powerful she is, it's fueled by jealousy.'_ Athena theorized.

" _All_ that _work_ , all _that_ studying. _And_ … and... _an_...d… _he_ he _he_ hee _he_ _hehaHAhAHAHA._ " the girl twisted her face to Athena… _literally._ The girl's face was now blacked gray with hollow red eyes and a mouth littered with fangs. _"THEY TAKE BLIZZETA WIN."_

Athena gulped down hard. "I-I know it's unfair, isn't there some way to show that they rigged it so you can get a fairer chance?" She forced herself to do deep breaths in order to remain calm as possible.

The girl screamed as ice exploded around her, her body now covered in black scales forming into off-white fur. The ice fully encased her and began to float off the ground, surrounded by more ice structures.

"Merciful goddesses." Athena breathed quietly. She soon found herself running from one of the structures being tossed/thrown at her, her talons popping out and keeping her mobile and stable across the now iced over floor.

Link's leg was bouncing from anxiety as they got closer and closer to the iced-over building. _'Just hold on a little longer, Athy, Zelda, I'm coming!'_

"Can't this thing go any faster?!" Nabooru yelled over the wind picking up.

"I'm going the speed limit, Nabooru! Be lucky you're still here!" Darunia yelled, eyes focused forward.

"The roads have been empty for a while now, chances are nobody would mind!" Nabooru retorted.

"Oh trust me, he'll keep going the legal limit." Link knew his brother all too well.

"I don't care, I have to get there to see all the action between Athena and Sheikhan Wolf!"

"Wait, that's _your_ blog?!"

"Yeah, what's your point?" Nabooru questioned flippantly. "Not like it was a secret to everyone, a lot of people from our class asked and know."

Makar just thought of it all as a roller coaster of sorts, though he wished there was a drop like a real one. And that the older kids would stop arguing, it was taking the fun out of it. Up ahead, he saw something rising. "Hey! Look at the snow pile! It's getting huge!"

The teens looked ahead, and saw that the snow was indeed rising… and it was getting so cold that it was hardening together.

"Uh-oh." was Link's only word as he glanced at Darunia, also staring ahead, the road getting more covered at the moment. "Big guy, I sure hope you're not gonna do what I think you are."

Darunia tightened his face as he stared on ahead, his hands gripping at the wheel. "I'm sorry, brother, but as a man, this may be the only proper chance."

 _'Oh no. Rav, I blame you for this… somehow.'_

"Young Leaf Brother! Grab onto something and hold tight!" the large man roared.

Makar grabbed onto Nabooru due to Darunia's request since she was bigger and there. "This is gonna be fun!" Oh to be young and have no idea of what imminent danger is.

Darunia grabbed the shift gauge to third-gear and slammed the pedal down. The Daroon Buggy's tires screamed as it plowed down the road gaining speed and the ramp coming up fast.

"Din, Nayru, Farore, Din, Nayru, Farore, Din, Nayru, Farore, _Din, Nayru, Farore!_ " Link kept chanting as he held tight.

The Daroon Buggy sped onward, the ice forming quickly as the snow got heavier. It jostled onto the ramp and kept going, the top coming up fast.

"Yahoo!" Makar squealed as they climbed higher and higher.

"OH MY GODDESS!" Nabooru screamed. "ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO -"

"YEAAAAAAAH!" Darunia roared as he cleared the top. The passengers feeling weightless as the Daroon Buggy soared.

Link looked down and saw only white. A lot of it. _'Well, at least there will be some cushion when we fall…!'_

At the thought, gravity took hold once more as they flew forward like a falcon atop its prey.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" everyone screamed, though Makar's was more joyous. With a heavy crunch of the snow, they were able to land safely, though they were practically caved in up to the doors.

A heavy silence covered the four, the only sound was the howling winds from above them for a moment… then -

"WHOOOO!" Darunia yelled with his arms above his head. "That was awesome!"

"Yay, Haumia!"

 _'I think I just lost 10 years of my lifespan.'_ Link thought while he gripped the sides of his seat.

Nabooru slumped in her seat, "Never doing that again." She's also sure some of her organs jellified. "What was _that_ about!?"

"Can we go again!?" Makar asked while his legs flailed about.

"NO!" Nabooru screamed.

"Hey, hey, ease off, Nabooru." Link tried to calm her down.

"Don't start with me, elf knight," she turned her glare at him. "The last thing I need is to be around some hair-brained numbskulls with insane schemes."

"And there comes the questioning of being around Groose." Darunia grumbled.

"Who's 'Groose'?" Makar questioned.

The driver would have answered if the passenger behind him didn't start attempting to gouge her nails into his temples. "OW! Leggo!"

"Keep a lid on that, GOT IT!?"

"Yup!" Link spoke for both himself and his friend while leaning away from Nabooru, "Lips are sealed!"

Nabooru released and looked around. "Huh, we're right in front of the FAYRE Studio."

"Now, how're we gonna get in?" Link questioned as he stared at the mile-high snow that was in front of the doors. He was having a bad sensation in his gut as he gazed upon it. _'Zelda, Athena...please be okay.'_

"Hmph, leave that to me." Darunia stated as he undid his seatbelt and climbed over the frame to the back. Undoing a latch, he lifted the lid to an added trunk and the sound of rattling metal was heard. Along with a few grunts, the passengers saw the trunk close to see Darunia now sporting a thick leather apron and welding mask, along with…

"Darunia..." Link stated as even as he could with his eyes bulging. "Explain to me why you happen to have a _FLAMETHROWER_ on your back and a sledgehammer in the trunk?"

"Ha! Not just a flamethrower, brother." Darunia grinned as he hefted the wrist-mounted nozzle up and flicked his hand up to have a smaller blue flame light. "It's a blow torch too!"

"That's not an answer to the question at hand." Link wasn't sure how to react to this at _all._

Looking at Link, Darunia flipped the mask down and said. "In case of Ravio."

"Ahhh."

"Wow, his schemes might end up that bad?" Nabooru asked with a skeptical brow raised.

"Keyword: _Might._ " the boys said.

"C'mon, Link!" Makar shouted, shaking off the awe of Darunia. "Don't you have a princess to save?"

" _Princess?_ Oh, I have _got_ to hear about this." Nabooru gave Link a sly and mischievous smile.

"Later." Darunia stated. "We've got to get inside first."

 _'Big guy, I owe you a sirloin after this.'_ Link thought relieved. "You guys try and get in through the front. I'll try and see if there are any windows open from the snow's height."

"I'll make sure they're workin'!" Makar gave Link a thumb's up. Link returned it as he climbed onto the snow, sinking down a good inch or two. Darunia did the same, but his whole body fell through.

"YAHAHAHAAAA! GEEZ IT'S COLD!" he screamed out before an orange glow came from the hole. "Ahhhh, feeling the warmth now."

"Wait for me, Haumia!" Makar called as he slid down the hole, Nabooru begrudgingly following behind. Link chuckled at the exchange before Bleddyn flew out in front of his face.

"Save the stooge routine for later. Athena's in trouble, let's move!"

"Any ideas how to get in then?" Link quietly backed up from the group as best as he could.

Bleddyn mulled over the plan in his head. "Twilight Sight should offer a proper idea of the ins and outs."

 _'Oh, so that's what it's called.'_ Link thought, "Just… don't howl after the transformation, okay? I don't wanna know if this stuff could avalanche or not and be caused by me."

"No promises kid, it's in the battle cry."

"At least wait until we're in the building then?"

"It's your willpower against Sheikhan's instinct. Get cracking."

"Fine… Bleddyn, time to howl!" the Kwami shuddered and dove into the bangle, and Link could feel his body become warmer in the cold. Soon, Sheikhan Wolf stood before the storm, and, while clasping his mouth shut focused his eyes and the world turned shadowy black, he could see three forms moving beneath the snow, along with several standing still. Staring at the building, he saw one window dimly glowing yellow.

 _'Guess that's my way in.'_ he thought, not trusting his voice, a faint rumble continued building in his chest. He pulled out the clawshot and fired it at the window. It shattered and latched onto something, pulling Sheikhan upwards. Somehow he still kept his mouth shut despite this surprise. _'Okay, so where did Athena end up?'_ He wandered around until he found a blueberry-colored mist. _'Well… okay then? Might as well see where it leads.'_ He followed the trail rather quickly (though getting lost a few times, as the path went in circles every now and again) and soon found himself in the lobby area. The winds were stronger here, and ice creatures were forming at a higher rate. And they were converging on -

"ATHENA!" Sheikhan yelled, releasing the built-up howl that rattled the panes of glass, and brought the creatures' attention on him.

Athena looked up as best she could, her body partially frozen. _'How long was he holding that howl in for?'_ "Be careful! If the monsters breathe on you, you'll be encased in ice!" She shot one that was about to do such to him.

"Right!" he yelled, slashing through another with his sword before storing it away. "Let's see how these ice cubes handle the heat! Item Charge!" he stuck his hand into his pouch, and pulled something, only to nearly fall to the lower level. "GAH! Wh…what is this?!"

"Haumia, how much longer?" Makar asked with some whining to his voice. Darunia was in the process of melting a path through the snow to the building. He took some time to get a proper sized tunnel made, whistling a quick diddy as he did so.

"Not much farther, Young Leaf," he stated.

"Okay…" Makar let out a long sigh and leaned against Nabooru since she wasn't made of cold.

Nabooru was hoping Darunia was right about this. She wasn't fond of the cold as is, having to travel through handmade (or rather, flamethrower-made) caves of snow wasn't high on her list of fun things to do.

 _"AWOOOOOOO!"_

"Ahh, what was that!?" Makar was now clinging to the girl's leg out of fear.

"Probably Sheikhan Wolf." Nabooru guessed correctly, with a smile on her face. " _Come on_ , get the heat out! I'm not gonna miss this fight, even if it kills me!"

"Patience, Nabooru. Fire is not something to be trifled with when it comes to creation, especially with caves like these." Darunia warned, focusing the flame on a certain area. "Besides, we're already there." he stepped back to show a clear portion of the ice wall, like a small view port.

"Yay Haumia!" Makar cheered and hugged his big brother now.

Nabooru stepped around the two and pulled out her phone, hands shaking a bit from excitement and the cold as she tried to catch what action she could through the new view. "No way…!"

"Wat issit? Wat issit?!"

Nabooru motioned the two of them over to watch on her screen.

"Sheikhan just pulled out a ball and chain to start smashing ice monsters."

"Cool!" Makar stood on his tippy-toes as best as he could so he could see the action too.

Meanwhile, Darunia had only glimpsed at the screen, before he started heating the sledgehammer with the blow torch.

"What the - a ball and chain?! I was hoping for the Fire Rod!" Sheikhan groaned as he tried to lift the weapon, the bar groaning under its combined weight.

"On your right!" Athena called out.

Sheikhan glanced and saw the ice creatures sliding towards him. 'Oh man, mutt. Why are you so fickle!?' He had no choice but to let gravity do its work and fall to the first floor. The ball smashed into the floor, and Sheikhan on top of it, gasping for air. At the impact, he heard something screech across the ice, and past two of the creatures were a pair of metal gauntlets. "Oh boy… here goes nothing!"

Athena shot one, but it wasn't a direct hit and only distracted it. _'Not now, body, he just got here and I'm not letting him fight this alone!'_

Sheikhan jumped from the ball with sword drawn, only to get it lodged in one of the creatures mid-swing, but he used the momentum to flip over the second creature to land near the gauntlets.

"G-G-G-Good j-j-j-j-j-job!" Athena shivered, mentally cursing herself for doing so. It's not that she's upset that she's cold, it's that she's getting cold and can't do anything about it. She was partially stuck in the ice legs down with some of it up her back, barely touching where her wings would be if they weren't in bow form right now.

After pulling on the gauntlets, he flexed his fingers and grabbed ahold of the ball and chain once more, finding them easier to handle with this new equipment on. "Ohohohoyeah, _now_ we're in business." Tossing the ball up, he reared his fist back to punch it into the closest enemy, and couldn't suppress his grin as it smashed through the six behind it. "Alright - uh-oh." Unfortunately, the ball didn't stop, and continued its path, with him sliding along. "AHHHHHAAAAAA!"

"Oh that's gonna _smart_ when he stops…" Athena muttered as she tried to figure out what he could do to stop himself from getting hurt, "Dig your heels in?" She called as loudly as she could.

Sheikhan tried to, but unlike his counterpart, his boots had no claws.

"Use the momentum to attack! You've got legs, kick with all you've got! Tuck and roll! In-air split kick? Jump attack with your sword!?" she was running out of ideas.

Despite the vocal options Athy was giving, Sheikhan figured out another alternative. With the strength of the gauntlets, he threw the metal ball the opposite way, and smashing through three of the reforming creatures. Once again though, he failed to take into account for the momentum, and was now sliding in an arc -

"Ahhh-OOF."

 _Shrkshhhh_

\- Directly into Athena.

"Kyaa! Ow… " at least she was broken free from the ice.

"See, my goddess," Sheikhan groaned as he tried getting up. "That was a good icebreaker, wasn't it?"

"As of right now, I'm too cold to care about the _horrific_ pun you used in this situation." Athena groaned and worked on getting up as well, though this was hard due to her stiff muscles, being extremely cold and landing pretty hard on an ice floor. "G-Geeze… " _'I was iced too long, I can barely feel my legs. Come on, Zelda, you've got a job to do and family to save!'_ She groaned as she worked on straightening herself out.

 _Shrrrrrp_

Athena heard the sound of torn fabric and saw Sheikhan tearing his scarf. With both halves he started to wrap up her legs. "W-wolf! What are you -"

"Easy, Athy. You're still cold, and I need you at your best to beat this broken icebox."

Athena willed herself not to go all 'infatuated teen girl' at the gesture, "Thank you." _'Hopefully what damage I managed to get in before you came in will help with the task.'_ "Let's continue the assault, shall we?"

Sheikhan hefted the chain to pull the wrecking ball back into his hand to let him stand. "Let's. Any idea where it's weak spot is?"

Athena deflated just a bit, "None. I've tried, but my arrow vision won't show me anything!"

Turning the ball in his hand, Sheikhan grinned in a wolfish way that made Athena falter. "Then that leaves only one option." he tossed the ball up and rammed his other fist into it, sending the weapon upward into one of the floating pillars. "Just keep smashing!" he roared as he followed the momentum of his throw.

"Let's smash things more _tactfully,_ shall we?" Athena sighed and started shooting at Blizzeta's form when she got an opening. _'Wait, is that… ?'_ Her arrow vision started focusing in on the large capsule, and she saw Blizzeta's body wailing around. The image was getting cloudier and cloudier the harder she looked, as though the snowstorm inside was growing stronger like a -! "Wolf! Be careful, I think she's building up pressure in that shell! Don't hit her directly until I can figure out a way to decrease it!" _'I really, really hope I can.'_

That's when she saw Sheikhan's abandoned sword. "Hmm…" first she had to dodge a few minions and destroy them, but once she claimed her partner's sword the gears started to turn in her head. "I have an idea, but there's a high chance it'll end badly. Prepare to run out of here if it goes south! Ready?" with some creativity and difficulty, she got the sword nocked like any of her arrows.

Sheikhan smashed the wrecking ball into the ground, splintering the ice. "Do it, Athy!"

"Firelight Explosion!" The sword glowed with heat on her words and, on releasing it, developed flames around the blade. She hit her mark, the heat sending the weapon further into the icy shell. "This might be where we run now!" The shell began to splinter as cold air hazed through the cracks. "Yup, running time!" her bow became wings again and she made haste to escape, picking him up along the way as she tried to find cover.

"Must you _really_ carry me like this?" Sheikhan pouted a little due to being carried bridal style.

"Can't exactly fling you over my shoulder. Ya know, wings and all."

"I could take them off aga-"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" She cleared her throat and tried that again, "Please, don't. We really don-"

"GET DOWN!"

The ice shell exploded with the entire north winds enveloping a cyclonic bomb.

In a flash, Darunia pulled Nabooru and Makar behind him as he reared back the white-hot metal. "Get back!" he roared as he slammed the hammer into the wall, and the resulting explosion engulfing the small tunnel. The blazing warrior switched on the flamethrower and blasted it at the howling typhoon as it passed, keeping the three from being flash-frozen.

Nabooru ducked down and kept Makar in her arms as this was going on. On one hand, she was upset that she was missing some heart-pounding footage for her blog. On the other, she'd rather not end up frozen solid _for_ the sake of her blog. Being a self-made reporter wasn't an easy life. "We gotta get outta here! Darunia, can you move while keeping the winds off us?"

"Just hold on for another minute!" the fire-bearer yelled. "The wind should hollow out by then!"

"Miss Nabooru, I'm scared!"

"It'll be over soon, just like he said," Nabooru encouraged while patting Makar's back. _'Please be right, Darunia…'_

"It should be safe now…" Athena breathed quietly, fog coming from her mouth on saying so. "Do you hear anything?" she added in a whisper.

"Other than the gargled screams of frustration..." Sheikhan stated. "Nope… hm?"

Athena was huddling close to him, her face partially hidden in some of the fur he was wearing on his shoulder, shaking like jell-o in an earthquake. "G-Good. Um, s-sorry about this, I'm just… really, really cold."

"It's okay," he stated softly while taking her hands and trying to warm them with his own. "You did good out there, Athy."

"Thank you."

The cute moment lasted for all of half a minute before Blizzeta's yells intensified to indicate that she was going to come after them again.

Blizzeta was now a full beast, her body still covered in the creamy beige fur, but her arms were longer and now had long black claws. She screamed out in frustration as the black scales formed on her face.

 **"You have them within your grasp, Blizzeta."** Boarova stated, his rough voice echoing in her mind. **"Seize the Miraculous or this game will be over in their victory!"**

 _"NO!"_ Blizzeta shrieked as she turned to the duo. _"I WILL NOT LOSE AGAIN!"_

 _'Please kick in again, arrow vision.'_ Athena thought while gazing upon the beast, _'Really,_ really _need that weak point for this form now!'_

Blizzeta slammed her claws on the floor, and the ice creatures grew once again. Sheikhan focused his sights on the chain of his weapon, still embedded into the ground.

"Athy, when I give the signal, get in the air."

"Will do." She flexed her wings a bit. Sheikhan bolted out in between the freezing creature shards and grasped the end of the chain. "Time for a little upheaval! NOW!"

Athena quickly took to the air and braced herself for whatever plan Sheikhan Wolf had up his sleeves.

Taking the chain in both hands, he hefted it over his shoulder and jumped. "DEEEIIYAAOH!" he screamed as the entire room _flipped_ upside down.

"What the - how are you doing this!?" Athena now understood why he wanted her in the air. It still didn't lessen her confusion though, if anything it seemed to increase it.

The creatures fell and shattered into nothing, as Blizzeta slammed into the floor. Sheikhan used this momentary daze to hit Blizzeta with the the large ball, cratering the wall behind her. The force of the spin brought out the weak point - a third eye that was closed until the possessed minion was hit so hard it forced the eye open.

"Athena!"

"On it!" she landed, changed her wings into her signature bow and shot her Light Arrow, "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" She landed a direct hit into the Gufuu's eye and soon the dark entity and the puppet were separated.

The Gufuu shakily flew about, before screeching at the duo, only to whimper as a large mass flew at it.

Sheikhan picked up the ball and chain again and hurled it at the Gufuu as it was trying to escape, kind of going airborne in the process as well. "ATHYYYY!"

 _'I do hope he doesn't pull this one out again, it does more harm to him than good.'_ Athena sighed then lined up her next shot once the Gufuu found itself stuck to the roof. "Miraculous Restoration!"

One light show later, the Navii floated down to Link, its magic catching him and gently setting him on the ground before he released it to undo the damage that was done. Soon all traces of Blizzeta's frozen kingdom vanished with the blink of an eye, Sheikhan's scarf was in repair and around his neck again, and Athena's body temperature was back to normal, among other things.

Such as Impa falling to one knee after being released from her ice block with a groan.

'Impa!' Athena ran over and helped her up, "Does anything hurt?"

"Just my pride," Impa half-chuckled and looked the young heroine over, _'So, she has been chosen… I'm glad.'_ "So, you're Athena?"

"Yes ma'am."

Impa looked into her eyes, and Athena could feel herself falter until the gaze glanced over to Sheikhan.

"Pleasure to meet you both." Impa gave her a soft smile. _'Take good care of her when I can't, Brawynn.'_ "I have to say, while you two are a bit haphazard, you're more in sync than the last ones."

"We are?" Athena blinked a few times, "How so, if you don't mind my asking." _'Oh this should be good, now I get to hear how her time as Athena went. I wonder who her Wolfie was… '_ Alas, this generation's Athena would never know, as her Miraculous let out a warning beep.

"Better hurry then." Impa straightened herself out.

"Good work today, Sheikhan! I'll see you next time!" Athena gave the two a wave and flew off elsewhere. One supply closet later, Zelda came out and quickly looked around for her father.

Sheikhan heard his own Miraculous beep as well, "I gotta go too, take care of yourself, ma'am!"

"You as well, and don't forget Athena's well-being too." Impa's voice had an edge of warning to it.

 _'Okay, so she might know?'_ Sheikhan pursed his lips and ran out the front door. One ducking into an alleyway later, Link came out and looked for his friends after tucking Bleddyn away. "Daruuuuuuniaaaaaa! Nabooooooooruuuuuuu! Makaaaaaaaaaarrr!"

"Over here!" Makar called while waving his hands above his head.

"You guys okay?" Link asked as he jogged over.

"Better than okay thanks to our heroes," Nabooru nodded.

"Hey Link, isn't your princess inside?" Makar asked while pointing to the studio.

"SHHHH! Makar!" Link hunched down and chided the boy while glancing at Nabooru, her lips in a wry smirk.

"What? That's why we came down here, so you could talk to her and then marry her, like in the fairy tales!"

Link made a weird groaning noise and hid his face in his hands, _'This kid's too blunt for his own good.'_

"Just go an' talk, it's easy!" Makar huffed.

"Yeah, 'easy'…" Link grumbled.

"We could go in with you for moral support?" Nabooru offered.

"No, I gotta do this myself…" Link straightened himself out, took a deep breath and proceeded to go inside FAYRE Studios.

"You got this, brother!" Darunia cheered.

Link gave the group a wave, then sighed to himself as he opened the door. What he found made him second-guess this choice.

Impa was with Zelda, holding her close in a hug, the two looking more like mother and daughter than employee and employer's child. He saw Gustaf across the way running towards his daughter, at the sight of him embracing her with tears coming down his eyes in relief, he decided to leave them be. 'She has what she needs.' A small smile spread across his face as he quietly went back outside and back to his friends.

"Sooooooooo, what'd your princess saaaaaaaaaaay?" Makar asked once the older one regrouped.

"Nothing, I… found that I didn't _need_ to talk to her." Link scratched the back of his head a bit, "She was a little busy anyway, I didn't wanna ruin the moment."

-

The circle of flames flickered as a chilling wind howled throughout the cave. Boarova paid it no mind as his eyes were alight in fury.

"You man have won this time, Athena, but this was a setback. Next time you and your cur will not be so lucky! In the end, I will be the only one victorious, and you won't even feel the cold hand of your doom!"

The fire disperses as the light above gleamed into naught but darkness.

At this point everyone was back in the Daroon Buggy, their winter wear stuffed in the trunk, heading back to drop Nabooru off near her place/Link's neighborhood before their escapade to the Peak District was found out by his parents. It was quiet ride, but it wasn't awkward like the silence they had getting to their destination. Well, minus what alerts Nabooru got on her phone for her hero-centered blog, which caused her to mutter in glee with each new post on the video she uploaded from the fight at the studio. So when she got a call, everyone kind of jumped since they weren't expecting it. "Oh, hey Zelda."

 _'What.'_ Link just about got whiplash from how quickly he turned in his seat, which to be fair to Makar was the backseat now.

"Oh, just heading home… you saw the video? What'd you think? … Yeeeeeeeeah, I know how risky it was, but I wasn't alone so it was all good… Darunia, Link and this kid they were babysi - geeze okay, I won't endanger a grade schooler with my blogging antics again!"

"Can you put her on speaker?" Makar asked while trying to turn in his seat.

"Makar wants to know if you wanna be put on speaker… you do? Okay! We're in a Jeep though, so speak as loudly and clearly as possible… yes, we're going the legal limit. Darunia's such a mom!" At this point she pushed the speakerphone button.

"Better than road pizza! Trust me, we know."

["Road pizza?"] asked Zelda, having not heard the term before.

And Link mentally screamed as he found himself unable to speak. _'EVEN. WITH. A PHONE CALL. I'm starting to wonder if I could physically_ text _her at this point! Wait, why_ haven't _I texted her? Would asking for her number be weird?'_

"It's better ya don't know, Zel, trust me," Nabooru sighed as she recalled the memory.

"Big brother Haumia, can we get pizza?" Makar was starting to get hungry.

["Wait, I thought you said Link was there?"] Zelda asked. A part of her had hoped that not being physically there might mean he could talk, guess good luck wasn't on either of their sides.

"He is, guess phone calls have the same effect." Nabooru looked to the blond with sympathy.

["Oh, I see…"]

Link mentally pleaded for forgiveness. Why oh WHY did his life not work out right for this?

"I could always give him your number so you could text him later?" Nabooru shot Link such a cat-like grin.

["Sure!"] Zelda's smile could be heard through her voice.

Link wasn't sure if he should cry from joy or what. That smile of Nabooru's made him worry…

"I'll be sure to."

["Thanks, Nabooru!"]

"No problem, Zel."

Link gave Darunia a 'Should I panic?' look. Darunia nodded with a bit of a nod, which caused Link to slump in his seat a bit.

"Hey, Princess Zelda, can you tell my big brother we should get pizza?" Makar asked.

["Princess?"] Color Zelda confused. First Wolfie, now a little kid was using it as a term of… endearment? She wasn't sure with Makar.

 _'Can I be smited now? Please? Or be thrown out of the car? I'll even take kidnapped by Cia!'_ The only highlight was that he might be able to text her. Key word: might.

Through it all, Darunia only sighed as he kept driving. It's days like this he's glad _not_ to have lady troubles. "Maybe when we get back to the house, Young Leaf."

"Okay!"

"Speaking of, my house is close by. Just drop me off where you can, Darunia, I can make it home myself. Which means I'll have to talk to you later, Zelda."

["Just don't get too distracted by your blog that you forget."] Zelda sniggered a little bit.

"No promises."

Once Darunia found a spot to temporarily park, the group bid Zelda and Nabooru a farewell and the menfolk continued on.

"Your princess sounds really pretty, Link."

Link only let out a sigh and nodded in agreement… "Wait, did Nabooru actually give me Zelda's number before she left!?" He checked his contacts twice to make sure, "She left without giving me the number…" he held his head in despair, only for a hand with a small paper in between its fingers. Looking up had Darunia holding it out for him.

"Made sure she gave it to me after that snow bomb scenario."

Link let out just the tiniest squee as he took the paper and gave his big bud the biggest bear hug he could give, "Dude, you rock!"

"Okay! Okay! Still gotta drive here!"

"Sorry!" Link let go.


	5. Mister Cucco

**Chapter 5: Mister Cucco**

"Aren't you going to waste battery life just staring at your screen?" Bleddyn questioned as he watched his chosen sitting on his bed and staring at his smartphone.  
"I'm trying to figure out how to respond to this, shut it!" Link grumbled.  
"It's just a picture of a kitten, big whoop."  
"But it's adorable and it has a caption, I have to think of something witty to say in response!"  
"You humans make mating rituals more and more complicated with each generation, I swear."  
"I'M NOT TRYING TO MATE WITH HER!" Link took a nearby pillow and tossed it at the evergreen being.  
"Link, is everything okay up there?" Yuki called from at the foot of the stairs.  
"Y-Yeah mom! Just… shouting at a video game!" Link responded quickly.  
"Don't get too involved, we're about to eat soon!"  
"Okay, good to know!" He then promptly fell back and groaned, "I've been at this for, what, about a week? This is the first time she's sent me a picture and I have no idea what to do."  
"Here's an idea, a stellar one: RESPOND!"  
"With _what_ , oh wise one?" Link deadpanned.  
"First, Athena's the wise one. Get that through the skull, pup. Second, respond to her like you would those other chumps… also mention pumpkin."  
 _'He doesn't get sarcasm, noted.'_ Link sighed, "Okay, fine. But I'm not about to mention pumpkin out of the blue, wait until it's closer to fall. It's only August, geeze." He typed out a quick 'LOL!' and then waited for her response.  
[ERROR: could not send message]  
Link stared at the screen with a look of disbelief for a few seconds before trying again.  
[ERROR: could not send message]  
Link retyped his response to 'Aww, cute' and tried again.  
[ERROR: could not send message]  
"Bleddyn, go sit on the futon. I think you're jinxing my ability to send a response."  
The Kwami rolled his eyes before floating to the bed, muttering about annoying humans.  
Link pushed the send button again once Bleddyn wasn't around. _'Okay, should be good now.'_  
[ERROR: could not send message]  
"OH COME ON!" He just about threw his phone but managed to think twice about it. Instead he opted for rolling over so his face was in the nearest pillow and groaning loudly.  
On hearing her son scream again, Yuki ascended up the staircase and gently knocked on his slightly ajar door, "Link, honey? Maybe you should take a break? The more keyed up you are, the less likely it is you'll think clearly about what to do." She then noticed her son was on his bed and not on a console game like she expected, "Those app games aren't getting any easier, are they?"  
"Yeah…" Link sighed and got off his bed. _'Let's just call it that, not me trying to text my crush and only getting errors.'_  
"Just need help setting the table, would you be willing to help?" Yuki asked as Link walked down his loft stairs.  
Link nodded with a hum of confirmation and followed his mom down into the kitchen/dining room area. With his dad's help the table was set quickly and dinner was served. Tonight they were having rouladen with tempura shrimp and tofu hiyayakko. Such is one of many benefits of a mixed-culture family: a plethora of foods.  
"Itadakimasu!" The family chorused as they held their hands together and bowed slightly, then they dug in. Link had to stop as his pocket buzzed due to a new message, "Sorry, one sec…"  
Z: [Hey, is everything okay? You haven't said anything for a while.]  
"Geh!" Link typed out an apology and explanation as quickly as he could.  
Yuki and Boris gave their son a bewildered look. They knew it wasn't Darunia and/or Ravio since he looked so tense, so who was he talking to that's got him all riled up?  
"Son, is everything okay?" Boris asked as his face showed concern.  
"Y-Yeah, just telling her I can't talk right now!" Link explained.  
Z: [Oops! Sorry, didn't mean to disturb your dinner! Text me back when you're free, k?]  
L: [Totally, it might be a bit though since I'll have to help with cleanup too. And sorry about not responding earlier, my app wasn't letting my texts go through! I'll see you after dinner, TTYL!]  
After turning his phone off he saw that his parents looked like they just figured something out.  
"So… who is she?" Yuki asked with a little smile.  
"G-Girl from school," Link tried to avoid the combined gazing by focusing on his food.  
"What's she like?" Boris asked in a sing-song.  
"Oh, well, y-ya know… really cool and kind and stuff."  
"I heard recently that Zelda Callaghan transferred to your school lately," Yuki had a gleam in her eyes, "and since I know you only know one Zelda…"  
 _'I think at this point I'm just going to be taunted for the rest of my life about this. Not even my home is safe.'_ Link thought while nodding in response to his mother's comment.  
"So, when can we meet her?" Boris asked with a big, mischievous smile.  
"Dad, it's a little early for that kind of thing, isn't it?" Link tried to not panic. It wasn't working so much on the inside.  
"Can we at least say hi in a picture?" Yuki requested.  
"After dinner, I told her I'll contact her after dinner." _'I think Athy's gonna be the only one who'd ever spare me of this.'_  
"Works for me!" Boris let out a chuckle and began to eat again.  
"Can we do it in the living room on the couch?" Yuki asked.  
"Yeah, yeah…" Link nodded and mentally prayed that his parents would forget. For now, luck was on his side as they finished dinner and cleaning up after was done. Once he was up in his room (and also tossed Bleddyn a new satchel of seeds), he got comfy on his bed again and started texting Zelda.  
L: [Yo, back!]  
Z: [Hey! How'd dinner go?]  
L: [Same old, same old]  
L: [Tonight we shook things up a bit with two side dishes from mom's side of the family]  
Z: [Oh? Sounds like it would be yummy]  
L: [It is! Er, was]  
L: [What is time-related tenses when it comes to food?]  
Z: [Lol]  
Z: [What'd you have?]  
L: [Things I can't type out unless you wanna try and decipher what autocorrect put]  
Z: [That hard to spell?]  
L: [You have no idea]  
Z: [XD]  
Link smiled to himself a bit.  
L: [So what'd you have tonight?]  
Z: [Rich people things I also can't begin to spell out without autocorrect doing something]  
L: [XD]  
L: [Guess we're in the same boat]  
Z: [Indeed]  
Z: [Oh, weird question]  
L: [?]  
Z: [Can you send me a picture?]  
L: [Of?]  
Z: [You or something you like, I need it for my contacts]  
L: [Gimmie a few]  
In reality, he needed to compose himself. "She's asking for a picture! Of _me!_ Or something I like. But she asked for a picture of _me_ first!"  
"Great, so give her one!" Bleddyn injected with annoyance.  
"...I'm drawing a blank!" Link stated with an odd amount of enthusiasm.  
Bleddyn was wishing Brawynn was here to soothe his nerves. "Keep your block quick then, don't forget you have school! Did you remember your homework?"  
"I know, I know, yes I did. There wasn't much to begin with, thanks to Darunia mainly."  
"Then hurry up, I don't wanna hear you texting and reaction all night!"  
Link rolled his eyes then hummed in thought as he got an idea. He turned his camera on and made a silly face, the classic cross-eyed with tongue out look, then sent that to her.  
L: [Here you go! ◝( ′ㅂ`)و ̑̑]  
Z: [PFFFFFFF]  
L: [So, how's it look?]  
Z: [Like you're a dork!]  
L: [Why, thank you for noticing! (＾▽＾)]  
Z: [You need one for mine?]  
L: [If you wanna]  
There was a few minutes of waiting until she sent a picture back, which was her giving a big, toothy smile and giving bunny ears to herself.  
L: [WOOOOW XD]  
L: [So who's the dork here again?]  
Z: [All's fair in selfies and war]  
L: [I guess so?]  
"Are you done over there or whaaaaaaaaat?" Bleddyn flew over to see and nearly toppled over with laughter when he saw Zelda's picture.  
"Yes, we're done, just let me say goodnight." Link rolled his eyes.  
"Tell her to dream of pumpkins!"  
"No."  
"You're no fun, you know that?"  
"Don't you have seeds to tend to?"  
"Oh right!" And the Kwami was off.  
L: [Dad just called up, gotta hit the hay soon. Sleep well]  
He hated having to lie about this, but what else could he do?  
Z: [Sweet dreams to you as well!]  
She attached a picture of a bunny curled up and asleep before closing her messenger app.  
"Her cuteness will be the death of me, I swear," Link muttered to himself as he saved the pictures to his camera roll and closed his app as well.  
"Athy's cuter!"  
"She wears a mask, your point isn't valid!"  
"Doesn't matter, all the Athenas are cuter!"  
 _'Talk about puppy love.'_ Link rolled his eyes and actually got ready for bed. It was a little too hot for his liking and ditched a shirt tonight, just wearing some light sweatpants, then washed up then hit the hay.  
Bleddyn joined him after a short while, curling up on a small pillow Link had managed to put together with some spare materials and cotton balls. "Yo, what's with the scarring on your chest?"  
"Long, long story… I'll tell you later when it's not a school night."  
Bleddyn grimaced for a moment before shrugging. "Works for me. Goodnight, Link."  
"Night, Bleddyn."

* * *

At the Callaghan household, Zelda giggled to herself as she saved the picture Link sent of himself and used it as the picture for him in her contacts list. "He really is a dork."  
Brawynn made a small noise of agreement, having watched her ward text from her perch atop her bed frame, "Pray tell, why did you send him such an oddball picture of yourself? You were considering just sending a picture of you smiling until the last second."  
"It made more sense to in my head," Zelda explained as she felt her cheeks heat up just a little bit, "he sent me a funny picture, so…"  
 _'These social exchanges get odder and odder with each new generation, I swear.'_ Brawynn thought as she hovered down and perched herself again, this time on Zelda's shoulder, "You must sleep, a big day is ahead of you."  
"I know," Zelda gave her Kwami a small nuzzle, "I'll need to hide you away in that satchel, will you be okay?"  
"Of course, my lady."  
"I'll make sure to pack extra seeds for putting up with it, then."  
Brawynn gave her face a hug, "Oh thank you!"  
Zelda giggled and slowly got up, "Well, time for bed!" She got on her nightgown, a pale blue-white dress with lace trimming. It was a simple piece, and she preferred that. Once that was done, she brushed her hair, teeth, washed her face and then curled up under her soft lavender-pink blanket. Brawynn joined her on a small pillow she dug up and had placed beside her.  
"Goodnight, Brawynn."  
"Goodnight, Zelda. Sweet dreams to you."  
"You as well."

Come the morning following, their science class was buzzing with excitement as they got to do class outside! With animals! The only hitch was that they had to put all their phones in a box the teacher kept so that they weren't distracted from their work. A small price to pay for some sunlight and time away from desks. The only one who seemed more nervous than anything was Lana, who was hiding behind whoever she could (generally Cia) whenever she spotted a cucco nearby.  
"Hilda, why is Lana freaking out when she sees a cucco?" Zelda asked her high-society-actual-friend, who she was (thankfully) partnered with for this.  
"There was this incident back in grade school, it's something none of us really like to talk about," Hilda explained with a slight shudder.  
 _'Poor Lana…'_ Zelda thought.  
On Link's side of things, he was the scribe for Darunia since Zelda was within the area. He didn't mind that much, but a bit of him wished he could actually talk. Darunia had picked up some sign language in order to communicate, but trying to handle a rabbit while doing so was… not easy, to say the least.  
 _Brawwwk brawk bawkbawk…_  
Link went still, he knew that sound anywhere, it echoed in his dreams prior to nightmare. His eyes peered below to see a feathered creature of condemnation.  
The cucco. This one, specifically, was the silver sebright breed.  
He scooted back as slowly as he could without trying to show fear, lest the beast smell such. How he wished he could even whisper for help, but his voice was against him in this time. _'Help, help, help, help, SOMEONE HEEEEELP! I PLEAD FOR MERCY!'_ He shut his eyes tightly and awaited his doom…  
"Silly cucco, you're suppose to help me and Hilda!" Zelda stated softly to the creature with a giggle as she carefully held the critter in her arms.  
 _'Did Zelda just save me?'_ Link thought as he slowly opened his eyes to see that, yes indeed, his lady love somehow kept the monster tame.  
"What do you think you're doing with _him!?_ " Cia screeched as she manhandled the cucco away from Zelda's grasp.  
"I was just helping!" Zelda took a few steps back as the cucco started to hop up and down in place while making angry-sounding clucks. This also caused Link to scramble behind Zelda as he eyed the small creature with absolute worry and fear.  
"Get away from her!" Cia hissed and about lunged at her 'friend', when she noticed how very icy Link's eyes were on seeing her attempting such. Sure, cuccos made him run for the hills, but as Zelda's long-time friend he wasn't going to let Cia hurt her. And he also didn't trust the cucco (or any) to be alone with Zelda either.  
Cia was about to open her mouth when she saw someone approaching them and shrunk back just a little bit due to how this guy looked (which, to her, was perceived as even worse because he worked with "smelly animals all day long"). He was lanky and wearing faded coveralls with dark red hair pulled back into a low, short and rather disheveled ponytail that - from the way the sides of his head were shaven - was once a mohawk, kind of tanned and had cobalt blue eyes that showed hesitancy to talk to Cia, but on shifting his gaze to the small silver sebright cucco his eyes seemed less dull. He made soft clucking noises that drew the small fowl over to him and handled the bird with genuine care.  
"You shouldn't do that to cuccos," the man mumbled as he forced himself to talk to Cia, "they're more powerful than you think."  
 _'All this time being around Lana and you'd think she'd know.'_ Link thought as he looked around to see said girl writing for the project. By herself, with a pig. When Cia's suppose to help. _'Oh Lana…'_  
"Oh _puh-lease_ , animals are just dumb and don't know a thing!" Cia rolled her eyes and ignored him, turning her attention back to Zelda, "And as for you, pull this stunt again and I'll get one of the bigger cuccos to peck your eyes out!"  
"No, don't you dare!" The older man called out in dismay, "They're peaceful, they only attack when provoked, don't hurt them!"  
"You're not the boss of me!" Cia pointed a finger of accusation, "You're just some lowlife worker that thinks animals have some sort of intelligence! Just wait until I tell the principal..." she glanced to the nametag sewn in, "Grog!"  
The now named Grog flinched back slightly, and Cia pulled a heel-face turn and walked away, but not before kicking an unfortunate cucco out of her way. Which unfortunately landed near Lana.  
Lana shrieked as though her life was being sucked out of her body just on seeing the (in her head) spawn of evil and started running while screaming for help, which also freaked out the pig she was working with and caused to run away. This resulted in a very cringe worthy domino effect that spread through the area. Class went from enjoyable to miserable due to having to fix things up, which went on longer than it had to because of Cia's complaining; the work also boosted Zelda and Hilda's popularity since - though in the same social standing as Cia - were working without complaint.

The flames glowed throughout the cavern as the heavy footfalls echoed. The trident pierced the ground as Boarova stepped into the cavern's spotlight.  
"Hmmm… that girl is rather talented…" the man held his chin as he looked at the damage done with a grisly sneer. "perhaps I should keep tabs on her… the more despair wrought, the more chances for my victory..." he grasped the trident and twirled it in the air. "Alas, she cannot be my tool this day… but another… oh yes..." he pointed a finger at a small creature depicted on the wall. With a snap of his fingers, the image melted into the shadowy mass that floated into Boarova's open palm.  
"Gufuu." the Gufuu's red eye opened. "This is a more… creative task for you. Go and bring out the darkness of this one's heart."  
The Gufuu saluted with one of its wings before flying to the skylight. "Go, my Gufuu! And claim another for the bleakness of this world!"

Grog was mumbling to himself as he cleaned up what the kids couldn't, especially that one with the violet eyes. "She refuses to understand the importance of animals and hard work… they all do… people like her should be punished for their ways! ...Oh who am I kidding? I'm just holding the job for sis, at least until that incident dies down."  
That's when the Gufuu spotted Grog talking to himself and flew up to him, attempting to go straight for the face in order to possess him, squeaking all the way like a maniac. That's when it found that Grog was actually really good at catching things going at him at decent speeds, but also rather gentle in grip.  
"What's this?" He carefully turned the creature in his hands, "A little strange… but we all are in the end." He started giving it scratches above the eye, making the Gufuu flap its little wings in joy and purr. "Well aren't you a handsome devil?" This just made the Gufuu flap and purr more due to agreeing. Grog brush his palm over the eye and the Gufuu bolted into it, shocking the man and causing him to collapse. Back scales formed around his eyes.  
 **"Well well well, quite the coincidence… I am Boarova. You truly wish to show them why the avian creatures are the most emotional of the kingdom? Then grasp their reins and lead their conquest. All you must do is procure me two certain items… Do we have a deal?"**  
"Yes!" Grog's eyes shined with evil glee as they also started to turn red.  
 **"Splendid."** Boarova sneered. **"Well then… Cucco King… time to show them a real devil."**  
Grog started to cackle, which turned into an evil laugh, which then turned into cawing while the black scales traveled across his body. His hands and feet were now covered in yellow scale chainmail and mimicked the talons of the fowl genus, his outfit made from materials that looked to be feathers from the red pyle game bantam cucco (with a tail to match) all across his body. A beak-like mask materialized around his mouth and spread to recreate the red flesh found on cuccos around his eyes, cheeks, ears and even made an upright comb on his head. There were even wattles hanging off his chin!  
His feathered friends, on hearing their new master, soon gathered around him as their eyes also glowed a devilish red.  
 _"That's_ Mister _Cucco to you! BWAHAHAHA-B'GAWK!"_

Link looked up from his work for a moment and gulped. _'What was that weird sensation up my back just now?'_ The pit in his stomach wasn't going away, but he had no idea why. This was a different class, one not taken with Cia and/or Zelda, so _why_ was he suddenly worrying? _'This isn't a good sign…'_ He opted for a bathroom break to calm his nerves. Just a bit of time to stretch his legs and everything will be fi- who let cuccos into the building? Why are their eyes red? Were they _marching_ towards him? _'No, no, no, no, no, no, no… NOT AGAIN!'_ He ran, stumbling and screaming to find sanctuary.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  
 _'Wait, who just screamed and why?'_ Zelda thought as she noticed a figure just out of line of vision screaming while feathered doom followed. _'Wolfie!? Wait, does he go here!?'_ She was about to excuse herself when the fire alarm went off, which meant everyone was now making their way out.  
And then the chaos _really_ broke out as the marching birds of doom descended once everyone was out in the open.  
Dozens of the feathered creatures littered the streets blocking traffic and pecking at anyone that got too close. The students were the unfortunate witness of one striking back at the clucking heathens, only to be viciously assaulted by a swarm.  
 _'I've got to find a place to transform!'_ Zelda thought while trying some vain attempt to find a hiding place in all the fowl free-for-all, _'At least a tree, or something! Anything!'_ As she continued her search, she found Link ending up with his back slowly getting closer to a tree and a cucco, one with a long, black tail plumage about 16 feet long, walking towards him with menace. "No!" Without a second though she ran over and tackled him out of the way, the two of them sent rolling as the fowl fiend backed up due to being surprised.  
 _'Man, what hit me?'_ Link thought as he noticed the person who did that was Zelda. _'...What.'_  
"Ow…" Zelda sat on her knees, "You okay?"  
Link nodded. _'Maybe she's_ my _knight instead of the other way around?'_ Then he got to his feet and helped her up.  
"Thanks," she smiled up a bit at him then turned her attention to the large cucco, "get out of here, I'll… attempt to take care of this!"  
"[No way!]"  
"I'm not arguing the point, Link, just go!"  
"[But what if it manages to land an attack?]"  
"I'll be fine, I'm tougher than I look! Just go!" At this point she shoved him to get him going.  
 _'Just hang on, I'll get some help…'_ Link thought as he glanced to his bracer before running off.  
 _'Okay, they can't go up trees… right? They're not exactly the best of fliers, so that means I can go up a tree and be okay. Which also means…'_ She ran over to the tree, the cucco giving chase, and used the momentum to climb up it, leaving her would-be assailant behind on the ground. "Brawynn, spread your wings!" Out shot Athena like a blazing blue bullet as she went to help the civilians any way she could.  
"Where's the Gufuu behind this mess?" Athena hissed to herself as she landed and shot at some of the offending animals that were about to go after some students. Not directly, however, just enough to scare them. She didn't _want_ to hurt the little things, she knew this wasn't _their_ fault. "Just move calmly, I'll keep them distracted!" She kept telling people that but they didn't quite listen, but some did wise up and actually followed her instruction. _'Wolfie, where are you?'_  
 _"Well, well, well."_ A voice chirped out. She looked up to see a… man in a surprisingly stylish chicken suit? Well yeah, he still looked ridiculous but it was working. _"Another bird has come to the roost, and a rather fetching one too~."_  
 _'No, just… NO!'_ Athena shuddered, "Given the attire, it's safe to assume _you're_ the one using these birds to attack the innocent." She directed her next arrow at him, "Surrender now, before any of your animals and more people get hurt!"  
The villain cackled at her. _"Oh my dear bird of paradise, my cuccos only attack the ones foolish enough to face them. That includes that prissy chickadolt, and now you."_  
 _'Why do I get the distinct sense he's talking about Cia?'_ Athena thought, "It matters not, you're not getting away with this!"  
 _"Oh, Bwoi? We'll see. Cuccos! SEIZE HER!"_  
She then found herself flying out of harm's way more so than trying to stop the harm from happening. _'Wolfie, where are you!? I need you_ right now _!'_ She found herself forced to land when some grade school kids were cornered and had to get them out of harm's way. "Farore, please give him an extra boost of courage for this…" she mumbled, remembering the scream she heard back in the school.  
Then she started to hear the sound of running. _'What is coming over here and why?'_ the sound of a chain rattling was heard as well, and in a blur, the children were out of harm's way. She tried to comprehend but was soon picked up in the momentum, and when looking at her savior, she saw - "Sheikhan!"  
Indeed it was, carrying her like the princess she felt like around him.  
"How are you - is this another ability of yours?!"  
"Talk later, escape now!"  
 _"AFTER THEM!"_  
"Find a tree or a tall building, they can't fly up after us!" Athena instructed.  
"They can! We need to get indoors!"  
 _'Guess I just had a lucky break earlier.'_ "As you wish, let's find a temporary HQ then!" She held on a little tighter and tries to find some place that could work despite going who knows how quickly. All she could tell was that everything was pretty blurred, even with magic behind her eyesight. More swarms of cuccos were trying to converge on them, but Sheikhan's newfound speed had him bolting past.  
Unfortunately, it seemed he couldn't turn that well, and with a park bench coming up in their way…  
"ATHY!"  
"I'm thinking!" she then remembered the clawshot and also saw a streetlight. "I have an idea!"  
"Do explain then, my goddess."  
"I just need to get the clawshot and use it on that streetlight!"  
"Oh not again!" Sheikhan groaned.  
"Stop complaining and gimme!" Athena snarled and reached for his belt. "C'mon you… physics impossibility… there!"  
"Okay, so the next part of this plan is…?" Sheikhan huffed a bit as he felt his face go a little red from embarrassment.  
"Hold onto me," she lined up her shot, "and really hope this works!" she launched it and, ignoring Sheikhan's tighter grip on her person, found that they were going up in an awkward arc and ended up landing, ungracefully, onto the ground after the horde went by them.  
"Ugh…"  
"Ow… sorry about that…"  
"Your wings are in my ribs, again."  
Athena winced and worked on untangling herself, "Sorry!"  
"Wait, your wings!" Sheikhan sat up.  
"Yes, what about them?" Athena leaned back a bit on seeing a slight crazed look in his eye.  
"They can turn into boomerangs!"  
"Yes…" then she was getting what he was suggesting, "Ooh! But it can't be for long, I'll need my bow soon enough."  
"Of course," he scrambled behind her and plucked the appendages from her, the wings now boomerangs in his grasp.  
"Well, never going to get use to that." Athena stood and dusted herself off.  
As the flock of destruction made their (kind of awkward) U-turn to face the heroes once more, Sheikhan Wolf brandished the twin boomerangs and put some of his wind controlling into them, "Take this, you feathered heathens!" The boomerangs were sent flying with tornados developing as they went on, the currents picking up the fowl ones and forcing them airborne. He cackled with glee on seeing his plan work.  
 _'Wolfie, when this is over we're gonna talk this one out…'_ Athena thought with worry.  
The amassing storm of pillow fuel was being caught in gales and the goddess hero did have some worry when her partner began cackling, though that was stopped as the trapped birds retaliated as they know how.  
Projectile egg laying.  
"Sheik…!"  
Sheikhan picked her up again and started running, the boomerangs following and re-attaching to Athena's back.  
"We need another plan!"  
"Of this I'm aware, Sheik. Is there anything else you could pull out to assist us?"  
Sheikhan turned to her with an embarrassed expression. "Ehehe… unfortunately, I don't think I can."  
"Right then…" Athena took a deep breath, "back to the original plan: find a base of operations that's cucco-proof." She heard the clucks of death approaching, "Ooooooh no!"  
"I'm going as fast as I can!"  
 _"Go, my pretties, and collect the Miraculous for our Master!"_  
"Who was _that?!_ "  
"The Gufuu behind this! Where is he?" Athena scanned the area as best as she could despite Sheikhan's speed.  
"Recon later, hide now!"  
 _'But where!?'_ Athena wasn't sure how they'd get into any sort of building, not unless it had a revolving door or a gate that could temporarily - _'No, not home. That would be extremely fishy. Come on Zelda, tap into the wisdom…'_ She thought of the places she's been to over the years, due to her father not wanting her home for this or that reason, and one place stuck out in her mind the most because it was pretty cozy, _'I've got it!'_ "The Market!"  
"The _Market?_ " Sheikhan repeated in disbelief.  
"It's an enclosed space, it'll give us some time to think things over!"  
"The Market! Which way, my goddess?"  
"I believe it's a few blocks from here, but we'll have to make turns somehow… I might need to use the clawshot again."  
"Oh not again…" Sheikhan groaned, "I should just get you your own." _'Note to self: ask Bleddyn if that's possible.'_  
"It'll have to wait another time," Athena quickly reclaimed his clawshot, "for now, we must escape the hoard!"  
The clucking was sounding a lot closer than it was before…  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Needless to say the noise alone made Sheikhan get a boost of adrenaline and kept him going.

Though it has been a few years since her last visit, there was still a sense of familiarity within Athena as she and her partner approached the area.  
The building was fairly tall at four stories with three interconnected smaller buildings surrounding a mesh tarp-roofed plaza, which each level had different assorted shops for anyone and everyone. Wooden pillars held up by stone and brick made the building strong.  
"Now we just need to get in…" Athena wondered if Sheikhan could possibly jump at the speed he was going, though he might need to let her go in order to make it all the way. "Sheik, throw me!"  
" _What!?_ "  
"If you use your wind magic while you jump, you can make it over the gate! You can't really do that with me in your arms," she explained, "I'll be fine, I have wings after all."  
"Very well, my goddess, as you command!" With a grunt of effort he threw her straight up into the air. _'Please be okay, Athy.'_  
Athena's wings were quick to flap before she ever started descending and easily overcame the gate, though she stopped on the wall itself and started shooting at the feathery multitude. Again, just enough to make them flinch and back away, not actually hit them. "Keep going, I've got your back!"  
"GOOOT IIIIT!" Sheikhan yelled as he leaped high into the air, above the growing sea of cuccos. Even with his item's skill, he knew he couldn't make the jump completely. _'C'mon you mutt. This better work!'_ He motioned his hands in in the way of a conductor and suddenly the wind carried him fully into the market. He then smashed the automatic sensor for the door so the demon birds couldn't get in.  
Athena flew down and wrapped him into a quick hug, "That was _amazing_ , Wolfie!"  
Though when she noticed he did not return the hug, she saw him gasping for air in a panic attack.  
"W-Wolfie?" She gulped and followed his gaze to find…  
The entire glass entryway door covered in cuccos, their red eyes glaring at the two of them in fury.  
"Come on!" Athena grabbed his hand and ran into the nearest store, which was a working replica weapons shop. On seeing the confused customers, she was quick to instruct barricades and to send the message to the other stores. Once that was dealt with she turned back to her partner, who she had sitting in a corner out of the way (she thought he _really_ needed a break from the running) and knelt beside him, "Hey… it's gonna be okay. The market's preparing barricades in the shops and we'll figure out how to take down that Gufuu." she stated gently while switching her position to sit on her knees.  
Sheikhan just gave a grunt of acknowledgement and looked away from her.  
"Sheik…" she lowered her voice a bit, "it's touchy, of this I'm aware, but I need to know _why_ those birds are freaking you out so badly. I would _never_ think less of you because of your reason, I promise."  
Sheikhan was silent for a moment. "I was a kid when it happened… you probably know the whole snot-nose happy-go-lucky troublemaker."  
"I knew one growing up, so yes," she gave a nod and slight smile as she remembered Link. (Yes reader, we know… he's right there and she doesn't know; one is hitting their heads against the nearest flat surface as well while the other cackles like a crazy person)  
"There was a petting zoo and I went with my folks, and there was a girl getting harassed by an bully." Sheikhan had a hollow chuckle. "So I stepped in and pushed the bully away. He wasn't all too happy about it and started throwing rocks at us. Being a kid, I started throwing them back. One hit a latch to an enclosure, and I didn't know it at the time, but my fate was sealed..."  
"The bully saw the cucco and had the smart idea to kick it at me, and when I caught it, he threw bigger rocks at us, and they hit the cucco."  
He staggered to a nearby bench and clutched his head. "...That crow… still haunts my nightmares.  
"The next thing I know, everything is white and feathers. My skin was being clawed at and there was nowhere I could go. I tried screaming out for mom and dad, and I did, but I kept screaming until I felt my bones break.  
"The next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital two weeks later. Mom was there, Dad was talking with the doctors… I didn't know it at the time, but I had lost a lot of blood." he clutched at his chest as his breathing stalled. "Those birds eviscerated me and tore my ribs. And clawed part of my heart. It was so bad that I had to have pieces transplanted onto it just to keep beating… It took suturing three parts of different hearts together, including my own. I was lucky to be even breathe right after that… much less move."  
Athena sat in silence, both her hands covering her mouth as tears pooled in her eyes. She didn't know what to say, what could she say? Her stomach had knots in it and she felt a bit sick. 'Oh Wolfie…' She bit back (almost literally) a sob that threatened to come out. _'He doesn't need my pity, he doesn't need my pity…'_ she took a few deep breaths and got to her feet, _'he needs my support.'_ She walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, giving a small squeeze. "I'll do what I can to keep them at bay, you just stay back and recuperate. You've gone above and beyond despite your fear, just rest now." Then she moved her hand so it gently touched his gemstone pawprints, " _Please_ , just rest now, my courageous friend."  
"Athy, no..." he firmly states as he gets up. "We're a team, and we both have to -"  
"Sheikhan Wolf! You will sit there and rest!" she prodded her finger into his shoulder and forced him back on the bench. "I know all that, but if this is too much… let me be your hero this time… _please._ " she added with a more gentle and sincere tone.  
Sheikhan just nodded, feeling like a little kid being scolded by his parent.  
Athena gave him a hug around the shoulders, "I'll call if something happens, we can communicate through our Miraculous."  
"We can?"  
"Yes. I would have done so the _last_ time we needed to save Hyrule, but it only works if we're both transformed."  
"Ooh."  
Athena squeezed his shoulders just a bit, "I'll be back once I've taken care of our foe for the day," then made her way out of the barricade and went to have a showdown. _'You can do this, you can do this… you can do it for him.'_ She stood several yards away from where the cuccos were trying to break in and prepared to launch a Firelight Arrow to keep them at bay once they broke through.  
Her plan went up in smoke as Mr. Cucco came into existence from the floor, holding a very familiar-looking girl with a bleached shallow pixie cut in his arm, cursing up a storm.  
 _'Cia!?'_ Athena thought to shoot the Gufuu now to free her, but also thought he might have more tricks up her sleeve and lowered her bow, "Release the girl, she's not apart of this!"  
 _"Oh please. Aren't you supposed to be the_ smart _one?"_ Mr. Cucco squawked. _"This bad egg is the main cause!"_  
 _'Then that means… Mister Grog! He was the one Cia upset the most today!'_ "Regardless, she's not a part of this fight, so let her go! Unless you're too afraid to face me head on!" _'Here's hoping taunting will get him hot-headed enough to let me get close enough to find his weak spot.'_  
 _"BRAWK! Now that just ruffles my feathers!"_ he threw Cia to the ground and raised his taloned hand before slamming it to the floor. _"Come on, boys and girls! Time to show who runs this henhouse!"_  
A blue ring formed on the ground and grew out, and soon there were dozens of cuccos jumping into the building.  
 _'This… will not end well.'_ Athena thought with a big gulp.

 _COCKADOODLEDOOOOO!_  
Sheikhan tensed up as he heard the crow of the most evil of creatures. _'No… they can't be here already!'_ He tried to catch a glimpse to see what was going on out there. All he could really pick up was that Athena was telling her opponent to let go of a civilian and that he just brought something inside. _'She said to stay behind, but… I just can't now, she's in danger! Come on, Link, you gotta get out there!'_ He looked around the shop, maybe there was something he could use here to help? There was a big burly man that would give Darunia's dad some trouble behind the counter.  
"You looking for something, hero?"  
"Depends, what's there to have in a place like this? Got anything handy against a legion of mad cuccos? Er, nothing that'll kill." _'Athy would have my head if any got killed.'_  
The man grunted. "Not the best to pick for that… but I think I have something for defense." he reached under the counter and pulled out a pointed heater type shield. No fancy emblem or coat of arms on it, just a simple emerald green.  
"I'll take it!" Sheikhan then realized that he couldn't access funds in this outfit, "Uhh…" _'What do I do to pay this guy?'_  
The shopkeeper handed the shield to the young hero, "No charge. After that story of yours, I know when to bring the right tools. Just do us proud, boy."  
"Yes sir!" Sheikhan nodded and equipped it onto his right arm. _'Hopefully, Athy will forgive me for disobeying a direct order.'_ He bid the people a farewell and made his way out of the shop.

This was a battle Athena regretted going in alone. Not only did she have to babysit Cia, ward of the hordes of cuccos (which she was pretty sure kept getting bigger in numbers), switch between using her weapon and attacking and try to find this Gufuu's weak point, she had to do it all on her own. She was regretting putting Sheikhan on the sidelines, but what else could she have done? He ran her here, was pretty scared of them and had a very legitimate reason for the fear as well. He needed the break. It was only after having to push Cia out of the way and getting a pecking to the side that she decided she needed her partner now and to work on contacting him once she was anything that resembled out of harm's way.  
When she heard the rattling of chains, she soon felt the familiar links wrap around her and luckily pulled her out of a dicey situation, when she felt a hand at her side, she looked up and saw her partner.  
"Sorry I took so long, my goddess. Had to get the proper gear."  
 _"BRAAAAWK! Sheikhan! Get your paws off my prize!"_  
"Excuse me!?" Athena glared at him, "I am in _no_ way _your_ prize!" Oh how she was going to enjoy this purification.  
"She's right, ya boneless beastie. She has better taste than you… what do you think Athy, deep fried, barbecue, or roasting?"  
"Is skewered an option?" Athena got her bow out and nocked an arrow in.  
"Mmm, yeah. Shishkabob can work too."  
 _"Don't get cocky! That's MY SCHTICK!"_ Mr. Cucco raised both his hands and threw them to his side, before doing a very strange dance and then directing the hands at the two...  
"Let's pretend we never saw that," Athena whispered hoarsely to her companion, who nodded wholeheartedly in agreement.  
The cuccos started flying at them and Athena felt Sheikhan was going to run again, but as they got closer and her partner didn't move, she looked at him in worry and shock. "Sheik, ru- where did you get that?"  
Sheikhan braced his new shield just as the horde fell on them. Beak after beak struck the metal like heavy rain but it would not dent or give. _'Thank you shop guy!'_ He then shifted the weight of the shield and the two of them fell to the ground, birds first.  
"I thought you said you couldn't pull another item?" Athena asked a bit dazed.  
"I can't! ...at least I know _I_ can't." he stuck out his leg to show Athena the boots. They now had a distinctive wing pattern along the brim that made them ready to take flight. "I got these before I grabbed you and those kids."  
"Ahh. Interesting boots." She nodded then snapped to attention on hearing their opponent cackle.  
 _"Some fancy little new toy won't protect you for long!"_ Mr. Cucco did another dance and summoned cuccos that were about the size of medium breed canines.  
Athena stood in front of Sheikhan Wolf with bow and Firelight Arrow nocked, "There's a girl here he dragged in, goes by the name Cia, get her out of here before anything else happens!"  
 _'Why did it have to be Cia?'_ "Yes, my goddess." With internal whining, he went to fulfill his partner's request. The search didn't take long due to his shoes and Cia's screaming. "Hang on, miss!" He ran forward with his shield in front of him and rammed the offending fowl away, sending them flying several directions.  
"It's about time!" Cia huffed while putting her hands on her hips, though she gave Sheikhan a double take, "So, _you're_ Sheikhan Wolf? _Much_ less impressive in person."  
 _'At least I'm safe from her like this,'_ Sheikhan thought while picking up Cia bridal style. "Hang on!" Being nearly choked while running with her made him regret saying that, but the run was short and she was quickly ushered into one of the departments to hide. "Goddesses speed to you all." Then he ran back to join Athena in the battle, but given the little flashes of fire he saw he wondered if things were going over well or not. Once he got closer, he saw it was… kind of in the middle.  
Athena had managed to keep the bigger ones away with a few fire-infused shots in front of them, but the smaller ones were either too brave or stupid to think about the fire and tried to surround her many times. _'For the love of the goddesses, I need a hint here!'_ She thought while using her wings to get some higher ground. Once she landed she focused in on Mr. Cucco and, while she would need some therapy after seeing him shake his booty to get more reinforcements, the arrow that showed in her vision was a sight for sore eyes as it showed that the Gufuu was located in his right hand, "Aha!" She flew down and faced the masses once more.  
Sheikah was sure he heard Athena say something, but she was quite a way's up and there wasn't anything good to use the clawshot on, "Hmm…" he looked at his shield in thought… and an idea struck him. "Aha!"  
He almost flinched when he heard more clucking behind him, but he steeled forward… or in this case _down_ ward as he fell from the third story to the ground onto the shield.  
"Nice to have you drop in, Wolf."  
"Fun-nay." Sheikhan snarked as he situated the shield between them and the villain. After making the conducting motions again, he kicked the shield at him. The wind burst forward and blew back the cuccos and carried the shield forward.  
 _B'gAWWWW-_  
Right into Mr. Cucco's face. **HARD.**  
"Wonderful blow to his head and, hopefully, his ego." Athena complimented.  
"Many thanks, my goddess," Sheikhan smirked, "now, any idea where his weak point is?"  
"His right hand, I saw it earlier before you crashed in. Though, hitting a target so small… it will be a challenge."  
"I have the utmost faith in your ability to shoot, Athy."  
Athena blushed a bit under the mask, "Thank you. Now, let's purify him!"  
The duo rushed forward sharing a war cry, which freaked the cuccos out enough to give them a clear-ish path to advance through. Mr. Cucco was still seeing stars and was sprawled out on the ground despite the panic of his flock.  
In his mind, Mr. Cucco groaned before he heard his master's voice.  
 **"Do NOT disappoint me, Cucco King. We have an agreement and you will fulfill your part. OR WILL I HAVE TO USE MY LAIR'S FLAMES FOR MORE THAN ATMOSPHERE!?"**  
 _"Y-Yes sir!"_ Mr. Cucco jumped to his feet and tried to spot where the two heroes were...to find them barreling at him at a rapid pace. _"BAWCK! Time to bring out the top rooster!"_ One awkward-looking dance sequence later, out came a cucco the size of a small house.  
This put Athena and Sheikhan Wolf dead in their tracks and now running in the opposite direction, their war cry now a sound of fear. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Though who was the one screaming in a higher pitch was unknown.  
 _"Go, my pretty, and peck their Miraculous straight from their lifeless bodies!"_ Mr. Cucco laughed/clucked with glee.  
Sheikhan grabbed his shield with the clawshot and then picked up Athena. "You'll have to catch us, Chicken Legs!"  
 _"'Chicken Legs'!?"_ Mr. Cucco started to stomp on the ground in fury as his feathers fluffed up, _"I'll show you who's the chicken here!"_  
"Isn't that _him?_ He _is_ the one dressed up as such." Athena rolled her eyes. "Also, no more bird jokes from _you,_ my friend. I've had _enough_ of those for a few days at this point." She added dryly.  
"Ehehehe, now, uh… would it make you feel better if I said your legs were way nicer than his?"  
"This isn't the place for such!" Athena crossed her arms and hoped her blush wasn't creeping out too much from under her mask.  
"Well, I'd say sorry, but..." he flexed his grip on her legs in a slight massage. "They're just so nice and supple with the right amount of tone. It'd be rude to lie to a goddess."  
Athena let out a sharp gasp and swatted at one of his wolf ears, " _Focus!_ We're in the middle of battle and there's an extremely large cucco between us and the Gufuu!" Now her blush was leaking out past her mask.  
 _BGAAAAWWWWK_  
"That's right on our tail!"  
The giant cucco was crashing through the building at a rapid pace after the heroes. Athena had grabbed Sheikhan Wolf's shield to protect them from being pecked, which worked… for one blow. The beak left quite an indent, but on the bright side the pain from such kept the bird at by for a while as it recollected itself.  
"Now what am I gonna tell the shopkeeper?" Sheikhan muttered in worry on seeing his borrowed shield ruined beyond repair.  
"The Navii can fix it, but first we have to purify its magic!" Athena reminded, "You can also put me down… I can run too." _'Unless you wanna feel my leg again, which… I am currently conflicted about how I should react! During battles is a big no-no, but outside of that… GEH! Focus, Zelda, FOCUS!'_  
"Yeah, but there's also another legion of those devils and, as much as I enjoy saving you, we need to stick together." Sheikhan said, and saw they were coming up on a corner. "Hang on!" he gripped her tighter as he performed a running leap and bounded off the corner of the and jumped in the direction of the central plaza. "Yes! It worked!"  
"Yay," Athena let out weakly as she found herself waiting for her breath to catch up to that. _'He can_ really _make some very amazing - if not very worrying - stunts when he can put his mind to it. If those stunts actually have thought put to them. I hope they do.'_ "You can let me go now, I think?"  
Sheikhan skidded into the open plaza in the center of the Market. It should have been sunny, but one look up made him gape and nearly drop Athena.  
Cuccos. _Thousands_ of them. Covering the metal mesh roof and trying to peck through.  
Athena looked up as well and held onto him more tightly, "We're in trouble…" she looked to him and let out a shaky sigh, "This is way too much, just go. I can handle it." 'I think. I hope. I really, really hope.'  
 _"No one is goin' nowhere!"_  
"If he makes _another_ verbal pass at me, I swear…" Athena muttered as she tried to find where Mr. Cucco was perching himself now. "Sheik, you can let me down now." She added in a whisper. "Sheik…? C-Come on, say something? Anything?"  
Sheikhan only held her tighter. His eyes were pinpricks and his breathing was caught in his lungs.  
 _'Oh Wolfie…'_ Athena carefully leaned forward, "It's okay, I'm right here… but you don't have to fight the cuccos. Just hide until it's over. I'm a big girl, I can do it," she encouraged softly while rubbing one of his wolf ears at the base.  
"...No."  
"Wolf?"  
"I can't be a coward… not even here. Especially not with you." Sheikhan glimpsed at her face with a smile before setting her down.  
Athena gave a nod and smoothed her dress out a bit, "We need to contain the birds, take down the big one and stop their leader. Speaking of, where's he hiding now?" She looked around for any indications of odd dance steps and more birds popping out of seemingly nowhere.  
Sheikhan glared around, his vision growing dim and silhouettes were seen about… looking up he saw -  
"There! On the third floor!" Sheikhan pointed upward to the northwest building.  
Athena looked at where he was indicating, "I'll take your word for it." She flew up to the third floor, got her bow out, nocked a Firelight Arrow and released it once she saw him, "This us for calling me a prize earlier! Firelight Explosion!"  
The arrow struck true, exploding the wall and Mr. Cucco tried flapping his arms to slow his descent. Wait…  
"Is he really -" Sheikhan started but froze.  
"He's opening another portal!" Athena yelled.  
 _"COCKADOODLEDOO BYE-BYE FOR YOU! BWAHAHAHAH-B'GAWW!"_  
Mister Cucco hit the ground palm first, and the entire plaza was lit with blue rings that covers all the walls. There was blue… and then many colors as the cucco's surged through, the giant one from before rising from the ground with a mighty cluck.  
"Sheikhan, get out of there!" Athena yelled as she jumped off the railing and dove after him. She kept praying under her breath to be fast enough to snatch him up, strong enough to carry him to safety and lucky enough to take on this mob herself… "RUN, SHEIK, _RUN!_ "  
 _'Run! WHERE!? We're surrounded! I can't just be running around in circles… wait…'_ he looked to the small playground in the center of the courtyard, eyes zoning on on the merry-go-round in about the center of it. _'Or can I?'_ Sheikhan dashed for the merry-go-round at the center and grabbed the bars tight, almost losing his shoulder. _'C'mon physics, be screwed by magic!'_ he grunted as he ran around and around, adding some of his wind magic to speed up the process.  
Athena found herself having to do some loop-de-loops to stop flying after him as she saw him running around in a circle, "What is that guy doing?" she muttered, then noticed the air currents starting to pick up. " _Oh._ Oh dear." She was quick to land on the nearest level and hold onto the railing, her talons digging into the floor for extra anchoring. "You can do it, Wolf!"  
The winds were fierce and the cuccos tried to flap against the wind, but even the strongest of wings would be useless in this twister. One by one, dozens of them were swept into the cyclone and clucking in mercy.  
 _"What?! What's happening?!"_ Mister Cucco squawked as he grabbed a bench. _"Brawwww, this can't be!"_ He could only look as the giants of his army were sucked in. The cyclone was now a mix of dust, birds, and feathers… with hearty dose of magical winds. " _No! No no no nonononononoNOOOO!"_  
 _'I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I - am so gonna hurl!'_ Sheikhan tried to keep steady, but his right arm let go and he too was pulled into his own tornado.  
"Sheik!" Athena thought to fly in and grab him, but even with the anchoring of her talons she was having a hard time staying safe in the winds. _'What do I do!? What_ can _I do!?'_ "Just hang on, I'll think of something to get you out!" Though she was wondering if he could even hear her in there…

Inside the twister, Sheikhan was trying to keep his lunch in… and it was unsurprisingly coming up pumpkin. _'Ugh, how did the previous ones deal with that taste?'_  
Surrounding him were the feathery demons he's come to despise ever since the near-death experience he had at the talons of one. Clucking, flapping, some nearly hitting him straight on in the whirlwinds. It was a cacophony to his senses and his deeply-rooted phobia. He panicked when one came at his face and he slashed it as it came near, finding that his sword wasn't quite inhibited by the winds like one would think. Must be apart of the magic. "Wait a second… my sword moves just fine in the wind."  
Athena would scold him greatly on this later, but for now he just couldn't help but let out a twisted grin at this revelation.  
"This… will be more enjoyable than it should… NOT!" Sheikhan yelled in glee as he readied his sword.

Outside of the tornado, Athena was having a very hard time coming up with a rescue idea that didn't endanger her life as well. She was also pretty sure that she might end up flying in at any moment now if the railing failed. "Nayru above, give me wisdom! What can I do to get him out of this!?" She paused and listened really hard, "Am I hearing… mad cackles?" She glanced over to Mr. Cucco, who was not the source of the noise as she expected. "Wolfie…?" That's when the scent of a familiar substance started to make its way on the winds, "B-Blood!?"  
The white became littered with red, marked with pale green waves that sliced through the winds. As she watched, it became more frequent and the cackles grew higher. Then, the cackles vanished along with the waves, leaving silence. Until -  
"DAI-KAITENGIRI!"  
The entire cyclone exploded in green and the clucks were silenced. She then heard Sheikhan's voice at her throat. {"Hey Athy! Mind sending a fire arrow this way?"}  
First she let out a great yelp of surprise at this before catching her breath, "Y-Yeah, just don't suck me into your tornado while I do this, if possible." She let go of the railing, took a few steps back and launched the arrow requested at the collection of magical wind, "Firelight Explosion!"  
The arrow flew into the storm, and the entire twister was alight. Athena gasped in horror at what she had done, only to hear Sheikhan's laughter through the Miraculous and the screeching of Mister Cucco.  
"Sheik, what's going on in there?!" Athena demanded as she gripped onto the railing once more, twice as desperate now to not get sucked in.  
{"Nothing much, my goddess,"} she could _hear_ the smile on his face. {"just a good old-fashioned fear roasting."} after a few moments of silence, he said {"...could use some spices, though. Want some?"}  
" _No!_ " Athena shrieked, "We're having a _very_ serious talk about this when this is done. I get you're freaked out, but that _doesn't_ give you license to kill these creatures that are under the _manipulation_ of a madman given dark magic!"  
{"...At least I've got chicken."}  
 _'Yup, a long,_ long _talk…'_ Athena thought with a loud groan as her response to his line about having food, "So, how _do_ you plan on putting the fire out _and_ dealing with all the dead animal bodies after that?" she asked with a dry monotone. If he responded, she didn't hear, as she found her opening to shoot Mr. Cucco's hand. _'Please let the magic keep my arrow from being sucked in,'_ she thought as she nocked in a Light Arrow and launched it at his right hand, "I absolve the darkness in your heart!"  
Good news, Miraculous magic kept the arrow on course and made a direct hit for the intended target. "Sheik, you're on!" She turned her bow back into her wings and flew too where Mr. Cucco was being purified. _'Huh, my wings still work despite the winds. Must be the magic. That would've been good to know like 5 minutes ago!'_  
The Gufuu formed in the air and glared down at Athena as its eye formed. It flapped furiously and then its sight was blinded by two heels.  
Sheikhan slipped onto the outer wall of the twister and aimed himself as the Gufuu reformed… very trickily, but as he built up speed, he quickly dispersed the cyclone and fulfilled a high-speed drop kick with his boots. He landed on his feet with a proud smile that only lasted for all of half a minute when he saw the very, very displeased look on Athena's features. He stepped aside to let her shoot the now Gufuu-possessed footwear.  
"Yow!"  
"Serves you right. Miraculous Restoration!" Due to it being a point blank shot it didn't take long for Sheikhan to start the Navii's magic up and erase any traces of dead cucco and half-destroyed anything.  
"Ugh, my head…" Grog groaned and found himself helped up by Athena, then looked around, "The cuccos, are they okay?"  
"They are, their magic restored them to perfect health." She didn't have the heart to tell him they were killed and then brought back, going for the much more softer explanation.  
"Th-That's good…" Grog let out a great sigh of relief.  
"And don't take what she said personally, she just doesn't get it," Athena added on quietly while giving the older man a gentle pat on the shoulder.  
Grog nodded, "Thank you, both of you, for saving me." He shook both their hands and then made a hasty exit.  
Then she turned to her green-themed partner. "Sheikhan Wolf, I know today hasn't been the best of days for you…" she stepped a bit closer to him with every other word, "but that doesn't excuse your behavior today. _At all._ "  
Sheikhan flinched at the tone in her voice, sounding distinctly like Impa. "Um… well, you see… ehehehe..."  
"I am gonna figure out how to get you some therapy sessions to sort this out, if this happens again…" she took a breath and let it out in a quick sigh, "just...don't _let_ it happen again. It was terrifying. When I smelled and saw the blood, I thought… I thought it was _yours._ " She crossed her arms and tried to look tough, but the little pinpricks of tears made it not work.  
Sheikhan's expression softened as he looked into her eyes. "Athena, no matter what we face, I will always protect you. Even against our greatest fears combined."  
 _'Stupid hero-based sweet talking. Stupid two-kinds-of-blue eyes. Stupid fact they're both working. I just can't win against this guy when he's like this.'_ She nodded and quickly removed the tears from her vision, "And no touching my legs like that in battles either, we can't get distracted."  
Sheikhan smirked. "Of course, my goddess, only in our most private of moments." he bowed, his right hand behind his back, tapping onto his restored shield.  
"That's not what I meant!" Athena could practically feel the radiant heat of her blush and swore it could heat up an entire room.  
Suddenly there was a beep, and both checked their Miraculous. "Well, Athy, looks like I gotta go. See you next time!" Sheikhan pulled out the clawshot and fired at the roof.  
"I'm still gonna figure out a way to get you therapy lessons!" Athena called after him, then realized something kind of important, "Wait… wasn't that shield on lend? Sheik, wait!" She went after him as quickly as her wings could go, "Sheikhan, that's not actually your shield! _Sheik!_ " _'Where'd he go so quickly!?'_  
She flew down several blocks to try and find any sign of her green-clad partner, only stopping to land when she saw a figure she hoped had some answers, "Pardon me, but did you see someone in a green tunic, a sword on his back and little wolf-themed cosplay items on?" Though hearing that outside of her head made her sound a bit crazy, as she realized in her sudden retrospect, "I-I'm looking for Sheikhan Wolf." _'Should've just said that out of the gate.'_  
The hooded stranger just pointed down the road.  
"Wow, he moves much more quickly than I thought…" Athena muttered before giving the stranger a curtsy, "Thank you, take care!" And off she went down the street.  
"Aww, she still likes you, she did a cute curtsy for you!" Bleddyn teased as he came out from under the hood of the figure.  
"After today? Doubt it." Link pulled back his hood with a heavy sigh, "I don't even remember what happened after I saw that merry-go-round, everything's… blurry up to the point where Grog was freed and Athy was scolding me like I just broke her most prized vase."  
"Ohoho, you WISH it was as bad as that… trust me, it's much worse that one time." Bleddyn floated in front of him with a happy smile and his wagging tail. "That… well, it was just your average ordinary everyday Wolf Frenzy."  
"'Wolf Frenzy'? Bleddyn… what happened?" Link's tone went a bit hard on asking.  
"Ughhh, _fine_ ," the Kwami groaned and his eyes went sharp. "Wolf Frenzy is when the basic instincts are heightened. You know, thrill of the hunt, predator vs prey, all that junk."  
"So what did I _do_ in this frenzied moment? She looked like she was gonna tear me a new one once the Navii's work was done!"  
"Eh, magic cyclone combined with One of Sheikhan's main hidden skills." the wolf flipped in the air. "While it's not pumpkin, the birds cooked good after Athy lit it up." he grimaced at the end. "Pity the restoration fixed that. Annoying things."  
"She _what!?_ Why?!"  
"Because YOU asked her to. I can't control what you do in Wolf Frenzy any more than as Sheikhan. I only amp up your courage so Sheikhan does what he's supposed to: protect and aid Athena."  
The blond let out a shaky sigh as he pushed his hair out of his face, then somehow went pale and red all at the same time, "I wasn't in Wolf Frenzy when I massaged her leg. I willingly did that. Me. As Sheikhan. Sheikhan Wolf felt her leg up a bit. I felt her leg up. I betrayed Zelda by touching another woman!" He moaned as he found himself leaning into a nearby wall for support and sliding down it with even more moaning. "And I liked iiiiiiiiiiit, I'm a horrible persooooooooooooooon."  
"Oh for the Giants' sake…"

The flames smouldered to embers in the cavern. The dark master of power pinched the bridge of his masked nose.  
"It would have been a ridiculous godsend for the accomplishment with that lackey… though the enthusiasm is definitely worth some form of endearment..." Boarova mused. "But it does not matter much."  
A ringed portal formed in the rosey peach haze laced in violet, an image of Cia storming off from the Market caught his eye.  
"A pawn in the rank of bishop will soon be the cornerstone for the army laid before me." his monologue was cut short as the Navii from before floated in and landed on the floor. Boarova grimaced and grasped the creature tightly. Suddenly the ring of flames erupted into a wall and the Navii was now screaming.  
"Soon enough, Athena, Sheikhan Wolf. You shall both see the wrath of a True King! HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA HA HA HAAAA!"

Athena touched down behind the gym just in time and entered the school, "Either there's no class going on specifically in gym, or I came in too late and school's over… uh-oh, if that's the case Byrne's gonna kill me for making him wait Nayru knows how long!" After making sure Brawynn was settled in her small satchel she ran as fast and hard as she could to the main entrance/exit. She found that lots of other students were doing the same, seems she returned just in time for everyone to actually leave. _'I'm not late! I ended up missing classes, which I can probably blame on today's incident, but I won't be in_ as _much trouble as I originally thought!'_ She was conflicted on this matter.  
"You sure you're gonna be okay there, Lana?"  
 _'Isn't that Saria?'_ Zelda thought as she found herself turning to see the green-haired girl speaking with Lana and Hilda.  
"I'm fine, really!" Lana nodded with a small smile, "Everything worked out in the end and Athena kept us safe."  
"I would've thought you'd end up…" Hilda fiddled with a bit of her hair, unsure of how to continue that sentence.  
"Like at the petting zoo when I was a kid?" Lana concluded.  
Hilda and Saria gave small nods.  
"Yeah, that was pretty freaky… still is, but I was still saved back then too!"  
 _'Hey wait a sec…'_ Zelda thought about Sheikhan's story and then compared it to what Lana said, _'Was she the girl he saved?'_  
"But you never found out who that kid was?" Saira questioned with a raised brow.  
"Yeah… all I know is that it was a little boy who got me out of the way. Never got his name, couldn't since he was whisked away so quickly."  
Zelda covered her mouth a bit and quickly made her way on, _'Sheikhan_ did _save her! Oh Wolfie, even as a kid you had… a lot of heart.'_


	6. Aghanim

**Chapter 6: Aghanim**

"I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON."  
"Kid, it's been a week. Get your face out of your pillow and face the facts."  
"BUT I GROPED ATHY."  
"I thought you said it was just a small touch earlier this week?" Bleddyn rolled his sky blue eyes.  
"WHAT'S IT MATTER, I'M STILL A HORRIBLE PER-" Link's ranting stopped when he heard a text notification from his bedside table and saw it was from Zelda.  
Z: [Everything okay? You've been acting off all week… didn't want to say anything at school to avoid embarrassment]  
"SHE KNOWS."  
"Link, you ever think you're overreacting?"  
"SHE WOULDN'T BE ASKING IF SHE DIDN'T KNOW."  
"I should just take your phone away from you…"  
"What do I say!?"  
"What do you think you should say?" The Kwami asked with a parent-like sternness.  
Link had to think on that. He couldn't tell the 100% truth of the event, but how could he explain what happened without it coming off with him being a cheating heart? Ignoring that Bleddyn reminded him time and time again during these little outbursts when home that he and Zelda weren't actually dating. Still didn't help the weight of the guilt. "I-I… don't know."  
"Then I'll answer for you!" Bleddyn managed to snatch the phone away, his small form surprisingly strong despite being small enough to fit in the palm of a grown adult's hand, and worked on answering Zelda once he was settled on a shelving unit in Link's closet. _'At least I've seen him do this enough times to get the gist of how this touchy machinery works.'_  
"BLEDDYN!" Link more or less flew off his bed going after the green annoyance and tried to feel around for his phone, only to find he had gone in past the point of being able to reach while on his tiptoes and had to get a step ladder. When asked, he said it was to grab something out of the abyss to reclaim it to the physical world and neither parent questioned the logic behind the answer (they knew the abyss was his closet). Alas, his effort was in vain as Bleddyn pushed the send button just as Link was to reclaim his phone.  
"What have you done?" Link asked in a grave voice as he looked at the reply Bleddyn typed out.  
"Fix things, hopefully!" Bleddyn came out from his hiding spot with an eye roll and groan.  
"I swear, Bleddyn…" Link scowled while reading what his Kwami had typed.  
L: [Yeah, I'm fine… just dealing with a moody pup that won't stop crying.]  
"Bleddyn!" Link whined as he descended the footstool and sat on the topmost step.  
Z: [Pup? You're pet-sitting?] (Followed by a confused emote)  
Link frantically started typing to make it reasonable.  
L: [Uh… kinda. More like he found me and he's VERY picky about what he eats.]  
"You do realize... this means war." Bleddyn growled.  
"Wage war with me and I'll convince my parents to make _nothing_ pumpkin this holiday season."  
"You'd only be hurting yourself! Along with me hurting you!"  
Another text notification noise drew their attention from their verbal fighting.  
Z: [Oh how sweet! I mean, the food thing's kind of a bummer, but it's so wonderful you took in a stray. What's their name? Breed? Can I see them?]  
"Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuud," Link wasn't sure how to cover this up now.  
"You absolutely CAN'T give my name! That is exclusive for Athena!"  
"I know that, just because I'm blond doesn't mean I'm dumb! So what I do respond with!? Wait, I got it!" His fingers were flurries as he came up with his cover up story.  
L: [Not sure on all 3 accounts, my parents took them to the vet and will also be looking for lost dog notices to see if there's an owner or not]  
"You're never texting for me again." Link glared at the green one with much anger.  
"Kid, you NEED me to stop being such a wuss."  
"Oh, so I'm suppose to tell her the truth then? 'Sorry Zelda, but I recently went over my magical partner's boundaries last week during a fight with a possessed man and his demonic henhouse, so I have some guilt on my head'. Yeah, because _that's_ gonna go over so well."  
"Better that than -" Bleddyn opened and closed his mouth and tried flailing his paws.  
Link had a very unamused look as he watched his Kwami's interpretation of himself until he phone went off again.  
Z: [I hope the little puppy's okay, it's so horrible that people would just dump their pets out in the street like that!]  
L: [IKR?]  
"Add lying to the amount of guilt I have…" he sighed and glanced to Bleddyn in silence.  
"Not my fault you have a crush on someone while fighting evil."  
Link gave no retort to that as he read Zelda's reply.  
Z: [I hope your parents find the owner, or at least a better home if the owner can't be found]  
Z: [I hope everything goes okay for you too]  
L: [Thanks]  
 _'Athena's a good gal, but honestly I'll always pick Zelda.'_  
Bleddyn shook his head with a small groan as he watched Link's face break out into a bit of a lovestruck grin.

"A bit of me wishes he had told me beforehand…" Zelda muttered to Brawynn as her Kwami was nestled in the crook of her neck, "I could've at least covered the vet bills and help fund the search for the puppy's home."  
 _'Something tells me money isn't the issue here.'_ Brawynn thought as she pondered on something.  
Zelda was about to continue on with her conversation with Link when she got a notice from another thread.  
I: [Zelda, go to sleep. I can see your lights on. Heiresses with school in the morning don't stay up late. Ever.]  
Zelda sank just a bit into her bed with an embarrassed squeak and quickly told Link she had to go (which put a great deal of weight off his mind for now), got ready for it then had a thought as she got under her covers. "Brawynn? Did Impa ever stay up on school nights when _she_ was Athena?"  
"I'm not at liberty to discuss such matters of my old charges," Brawynn stretched her wings a bit and curled up on her little pillow, "but yes, generally when she knew they had a weekday off the next day."  
"Something tells me I won't be allowed such…" Zelda sighed and closed her eyes, "Goodnight, Brawynn."  
"Sweet dreams, my lady."

Link and Bleddyn weren't really talking to each other the rest of the night, the Kwami either on the couch-futon or on the windowsill while paying no mind to his human. Both thought they were in the right of what they did and didn't want to admit being wrong.  
"You gonna claim your pillow?" Link asked as he got on a black nightshirt.  
"Later." Bleddyn stated sharply.  
"Night." Link flopped into bed and turned off his light. _'Stupid Bleddyn, thinking that he had the right to do that. Guy's got no tact and has a serious case of tunnel vision when it comes to Athena… and probably her Kwami too.'_ He groaned a bit while trying to find a comfortable position. _'He just doesn't get it. I've known Zelda for years, of_ course _I have a stronger sense of loyalties to her. Not that I'd ever betray Athy, but if I do_ something _that'll upset Zelda, of_ course _I'm gonna react!'_ Tonight was not his night to find a comfortable way to sleep. He gave up and just laid flat on his back, his anger slowly dissipating as sleep claimed him. Some part of his brain registered something small and warm settle on his chest but paid no mind as he finally conked out.  
Bleddyn looked at Link's face for a minute before closing his eyes, _'He's gotta be the most stubborn pup I've had yet. His loyalty makes up for it… I guess. He's gotta learn to adapt better though.'_ And with that, the evergreen one slept as well.

The next day, it was the usual hustle, bustle and counting down to the weekend at Harkinian Academy, with 2nd period in a bit of a lull due to a last-minute substitute teacher giving them that period to study. Obviously, since they're high schoolers, only Shad actually took the time to study while everyone else only _looked_ like they were working when they were really just doing gossip.  
"Aww c'mon, Saria, you really think some rinky dink piece of clay you blow into can out-do the power of a tuba?" Groose gave his frenemy a cocky smile complete with leaning back in his chair and folding his arms in front of him.  
"In terms of being subtle, totally." Saria stuck her tongue out at the tanned redhead with a pleased look on her face.  
"Who needs _subtlety_ when you have the power of a brass instrument?"  
"People who like mobility."  
The two engaged into a staring contest until Zelda decided to break them up with an innocent question.  
"What do you play, Saria?"  
"An ocarina!" Saria turned her attention to Zelda due to actually being interested, "I've had it since I was 9, took a long while but I've mastered playing it!"  
"What's it look like?" Zelda asked, leaning in a bit as she noticed Saria grab some paper and make a rough sketch out of it, "Oh, a sweet potato ocarina! I have that kind too!"  
"You play?" Saria gave a small head tilt.  
The blonde nodded with a small smile, "It was something my mother gave me."  
The green-haired one gave a nod back with a hum, "You willing to bring it over tomorrow? I'll bring mine and we can look at each other's."  
"Sure!"  
Groose let out a loud-enough cough to catch their attention.  
"Oh right. Tomorrow then, for sure!" And then Saria went back to her staring contest.  
 _'Those two… how do they get along again?'_ Zelda thought as she ceased her leaning and read for the remainder of class. She also may or may not have sneaked in a few texts to her friends when nobody was looking, mostly to see how everyone was holding up. The reactions ranged from 'Save me' to 'Finished a test, no homework!'.  
Though on reading that Link was bored, she may or may not have sent him a silly picture of a dog. That action may or may not have nearly gotten his phone taken away due to the stifled laughs. However, she apologized afterwards. After school Zelda and Saria met up again to reconfirm their plan to make sure it would go off without as much of a hitch as possible.  
"Before or after school?" Zelda asked as she, Saria and Nabooru walked through the front entrance/exit.  
"Before, maybe like 20 minutes before homeroom?" Saria suggested.  
"This about that ocarina thing?" Nabooru inquired.  
"Yes, how'd you know?" Zelda raised a brow in curiosity.  
"Saria told me," Nabooru explained with an odd amount of quickness.  
"Ah, yeah!" Saira nodded rapidly.  
Zelda looked at the two for a little while longer before accepting the explanation, "Alright then, 20 minutes before school."  
"Any chance I can come and watch?" Nabooru asked as the trio stopped by the sidewalk and waited.  
"If you wish," Zelda shrugged a bit.  
"Don't see why not!" Saria gave a nod.  
All three then looked in the direction of laughter and saw the bro trio hanging around Ravio's moped, the owner in the seat. Nabooru gave a slight roll of her eyes, Saria just shrugged, but Zelda kept her gaze lingering just a bit longer.  
"Girls… what does Link sound like?"  
Cue a baffled look on both their faces.  
"I'm being serious," Zelda's cheeks went hot with a blush, "he has selective mutism, so it's not like I can just ask him directly."  
"Uhh… Nabs, any ideas?" Saria looked to the tallest of the trio.  
Nabooru hummed in thought a bit as she figured out how to word this, being a bit distracted when she heard the guys shouting something, but unsure of what.  
While Zelda waited, she got a text notification, "Oh, one sec," she noticed it was a sound clip and pushed play.  
"HI ZELDA!" That was Darunia and Ravio.  
"Oh, that explains the shouting," Nabooru stifled a laugh at Zelda's shocked countenance.  
L: [They wanted to say hi]  
"I say we have a bit of fun with the response," Saria gave a childish but wicked grin.  
"Oh yes, yes we should." Nabooru nodded in agreement.  
"They're looking this way," Zelda glanced over to the others, "what can we do without them knowing?"  
"Gimme one sec…" Nabooru's fingers went flying as she contacted someone and pocketed her phone without even looking at if there was a response or not.  
A few minutes later came the sounds of a tuba. This got Saria into a fit of giggles and snorts while the redhead simply smiled like the cat who ate the canary. Zelda was just plain confused.  
"Anyway, time for our response. Zelda, ready to record?"  
"Uh, yeah! Yeah." Zelda nodded quickly as she was snapped out of her befuddlement due to the sudden sounds of brass. She counted to 3 on her fingers to 3, then pushed the button.  
"HI GUYS!" All 3 screamed, finishing off with some laughter. Nabooru took her phone out and texted again, which somehow managed to correspond with the tuba ceasing its noise, and now all 3 were laughing again when they saw Link play the audio response.  
At this point, Zelda's ride home was pulling up as well.  
"I'll see you guys tomorrow, take care!" Zelda managed to speak between her giggles and entered the car.  
"Bye, Zel!" The two chorused and then went on their own merry way.  
"Hey Link… how come you haven't sent Zelda one of those audio replies?" Ravio questioned while leaning back a bit with a questionable look on his face.  
Link demonstrated what happens when he does by pulling up the text thread with her, pushing the record button and trying to speak. Nothing came out despite his lips moving. Afterwords, he explained to Zelda the post of no sound.  
"Ouch." Ravio winced a bit.  
"One day, brother. Your voice will be the best thing she hears."  
"Thanks, Darunia," Link smiled sadly, "but for now it'll have to be a mystery for her." _'At least, when I'm Link… but Bleddyn would chew me out if I became Sheikhan Wolf just to say hi.'_

Come the next day, Zelda was chilling in the main lobby at a table while looking over her songbook. It was more or less a little book made completely out of faded paper and ink, the handwriting showing that it was made a rather long time ago due to how curly it was. There was also little pictures of what hole to cover (as indicated by the filled in holes) and additional notes scattered here and there. Currently, she was working on her finger positioning while waiting for her friends to come. She arrived a bit earlier than originally planned due to her excitement of the event and made use of such. She found herself stopping and letting out a small sigh while slumping in her chair. _'I miss you, Mom…'_  
The dull noise of a chair being moved in and out snapped her from her thoughts.  
"Oh, hello Darunia. What brings you here?" Zelda straightened herself up a bit and put her musical instrument away for the time being.  
"Hm, oh hey Zelda! I was just hearing some music and came over." Darunia chuckled. "I always like upbeat tunes that get me dancing."  
Zelda gave a slight giggle at that, "Good to know. How're you so far today?"  
"Good so far. What brings you to school earlier than normal?"  
"I was talking with Saria yesterday and we both decided to bring in our ocarinas today," Zelda explained as she pulled hers out again. Its color was like the blue of the sky after a storm with 6 holes immediately visible and 2 in the back and had a small strip of metal around the mouth piece's base.  
Darunia eyed the instrument with awe, "Very beautiful! It looks old too."  
"It's a family heirloom from my mother's side of the family," she looked down at it, "she passed it onto me when I was a child, as her mother did before her… it's tradition."  
Darunia gave a solemn nod and hum in response.  
"Do you have any in your family?" Zelda asked after a moment of silence.  
Darunia was silent for a moment before speaking again. "One… from my own mother. A red geode stone. She was a geologist and it was from her dad. It's almost the same color as rubies, but it's a bit richer." he sighed. "It always feel warmer when I hold it."  
"It sounds beautiful," Zelda smiled a little, but could tell that his story held a pain to it, one she knew all too well.  
They lapsed into silence yet again due to the implied but heavy nature of the topic.  
"Hey guys!" Saria had spotted them and walked up, but on seeing how sullen a mood they were both giving she thought twice about what she was going to say next, "So… what's going on?"  
"Oh, just casual conversation," Zelda stated a bit quickly, "about family traditions." She also noticed that her friend was in a forest silhouette-themed T-shirt, jeans cut at the knees and black Vans with flame-themed ankle socks today.  
"Hm… wish I could say the same." the shorter girl took a seat next to Zelda. "My brother's never seen eye to eye with my dad… the only one I can rely on is Deku."  
"Deku?"  
"My dad's toucan."  
Zelda stifled a laugh, "A _toucan_?"  
"He's a bit strange. And rare. He's all green." Saria smiled. "He likes perching on people's heads. He actually stayed on Link's when it was Career Day way back."  
"I remember that!" Darunia laughed. "He stayed there the whole day, and hit Link with his beak when he answered a question wrong."  
Zelda laughed as well "Oh my!"  
"Man, that was some day…" Saria shook her head in amusement at the memory, "don't think we've had that much fun on Career Day since."  
"What _does_ your father do for a living, if you don't mind me asking?" Zelda gave a slight tilt to her head.  
"Talks about old things and dead people all day," Saria gave a slight roll of her eyes.  
"Museum curator," Darunia translated.  
"Ooh."  
"Anyway, we were gonna talk musical instruments, right Zelda?"  
"Oh! Yes, forgive me," Zelda brought hers to the middle of the table.  
"Ooh, fancy! I've never seen one in that color before."  
"It's as pretty as it sounds too!" Darunia gave Zelda a small nudge, then all 3 turned on hearing footsteps coming towards them and found Nabooru joining.  
"Am I late?" asked the redhead as she sat.  
"Nope, just in time!" Saria took hers out and placed it by Zelda's. It was the same shaping and had similar hole placement, but this was more of an earthy clay color with a green isosceles triangle on the mouth piece.  
"It's rather cute!" Zelda praised.  
"Aww, you're makin' me blush here, Zel! Yours is way cooler than mine."  
"Can I hear you play yours?"  
"Totally!" Saria snagged it up and started playing a complex song that left the other three gobsmacked at how she could play it without missing a beat. Darina got over the shock faster than the other two, got up and started dancing along, which earned some laughs.  
The scene started to draw a small crowd, some recording it on their phones and posting it online, which resulted in shares (some with captions), comments and even _more_ shares. There was a rather unified sound of disappointment when Saria has to stop playing due to tiring out, but was readily replaced when Zelda offered her own musical talents and played a song as well. The sharing and resharing happened once more, but this time it triggered a reaction in one certain individual…  
"Lana! Are you seeing this!?" Cia shrieked as she pulled the blue-haired one to her side and basically shoved her phone into Lana's face.  
"Yeah, I am! Who knew ocarinas could sound so pretty, right?" Lana smiled nervously while she tried to put a safe distance of space between herself and the violet-clad one.  
"Zelda's playing is far too perfect, she could steal any man's heart like a piper!"  
 _'I don't think she'd need music to do that…'_ Lana thought with a sigh.  
"She might even take away my dear Link!"  
 _'I think that ship sailed some time ago,'_ Lana may have to be by Cia's side for all hours of school when possible (and sometimes out of school), but it doesn't mean she doesn't notice what's going on.  
"We have to stop her!" Cia then marched off to find her 'friend', minion trailing behind with worry. Said minion now had to work on stopping the recordings of the event on Cia's orders to avoid looking bad for the cameras.  
Zelda lowered her ocarina and kept it in her hands and under the table as she saw/heard Cia's approach.  
"What do you want, Cia?" Nabooru stood, walked over so that she was directly in the other's path and crossed her arms.  
"I demand to speak to that…that… siren!"  
"Siren?" Zelda gave her other two companions a very confused face.  
"Not until you've cooled off and speak like a civil person and not some tantrum-throwing toddler." Nabooru's gaze turned decently threatening as she spoke.  
"You're not the boss of me, last I checked you're just a student!" Cia snapped back.  
"Come off it, Cia, you're not the boss of any of us either!" Saria remarked as she stood on her chair with a hand on her hip and her ocarina occupying the other.  
"Oh what, like a midget has power over _moi_?" fury now redirected, Cia shoved Nabooru out of the way, "What makes you think I'd listen to some _kid_ like you?"  
"We're the same age," Saria deadpanned.  
"You sure don't look it, shorty!"  
"Cia, leave her alone." Zelda slipped her ocarina into her bag as she stood, "Your beef is with me, don't drag her into this."  
"She dragged herself into this when she spoke up against me!"  
 _'Could that make any less sense?'_ Zelda thought with a stern glare locked into Cia's raging violet irises.  
Nabooru started walking over and stayed around Saria, Darunia mimicking her stance but with Zelda instead. If there was a fight about to happen, no way would either let Saria and/or Zelda get hurt.  
"How about you make like a tree and leaf instead of pulling us through your drama?" Saria huffed with an extra sharp glare.  
"Why don't you make like a tree and _FALL_!" With a growl and a quick push, Saria was quickly sent falling.  
Nabooru was quick to catch her falling friend before any damage could be done to her, but alas the prized ocarina wasn't spared from gravity's cruel fate and soon became nothing more than shattered clay.  
"My ocarina!" Saria yelled as she stared at the chunks and dust.  
"Serves you right!" Cia humphed and left with a snap of her fingers, Lana begrudgingly following along. The crowd quickly dispersed quickly afterwards.  
"My ocarina…" Saria's face was soon wet with tears.  
Zelda and Darunia came over, the blonde gathering her green-haired friend into a hug as Darunia patted her back in a sympathetic manner.  
"We'll go get the principal, he'll put Cia in line," Zelda encouraged.  
"With what proof? She'd just retort I dropped it myself!" Saria sniffled and hid her face from the others.  
"But we all saw it, he's bound to believe us if we just -" Nabooru was cut off with a wail.  
"You guys don't get it! She won! We can't do anything about it, she knows the system and has it wrapped around her little finger!" After that outburst, Saria fled and hid herself away in the nearest bathroom.  
They would have gone after her, but the warning bell went off.  
"We just can't leave her like this," Zelda muttered.  
"But we can't be tardy either," Nabooru reminded.  
Darunia nodded in agreement with his redheaded friend.  
"Hang on one sec, you guys go ahead of me," Zelda slipped into the bathroom, "Saria?"  
"Go away, Zelda, I don't wanna talk! I'm not going to class either, so don't bother!"  
Zelda deflated a bit on hearing those statements from whatever stall Saria hid herself in, "She won't win, Saria. I don't know how, but… we'll figure something out!"  
"Just go already! It's hopeless…"  
The heiress sighed, "When you're ready to talk… I'll be there to listen," then departed for homeroom.  
"Stupid Cia… just 'cuz she's at the top of the economic food chain she thinks she's all that! She's not, she's not I tell you!" Saria punched the wall behind her with a grunt and continued her crying. After she sat there in her pity party, grumbling to herself, she wiped her face off and trudged to homeroom.

The encircling flames grew bright as the lone figure of the cavern stepped into the natural spotlight, dimmer in the morning dew. His armor gleamed as he chuckled deeply.  
"It seems my bishop has claimed another pawn." Boarova smiled. "And with such distraught… yes, the perfect choice…"  
He pointed a gilded claw at the depictions on the wall, one humanoid with arm outstretched to claw at the enemy. With a snap of his fingers, the image melted into a black ball and floated into its master's palm.  
"Gufuu." The red eye opened to look at its creator. "Go and find this darkened heart. She will be most useful in this cunning plan."  
The Gufuu formed its wings and gave a bow as it flapped up through the skylight.  
"Go, my Gufuu, and claim another for the bleakness of this world!"

Saria took a moment just before exiting the lobby to compose herself, "Need an excuse, need a reasonable excuse… what's a good excuse? What would bro say if this happened to him?" she puffed out her chest and made her voice deeper, "'I was under the impression that the party doesn't start until I come in'!" then she relaxed a bit with a soft laugh, "I wish, at least it would mean he's less stuck up that way. G'oooh, If only I could just… take Cia down a few pegs!" she stomped her feet.  
At this moment, the Gufuu descended near her, watching her frustration. It rubbed its wings together maliciously and flew straight into her mouth.  
She let out a scream in response, but it was short-lived as black scales formed around her eyes while her body went limp like a ragdoll.  
 **"Hmmm, an interesting idea, child. I am Boarova. You truly wish to strike her down? Then I can grant you the ability to uproot the very essence of her being. But I shall only do so if you swear to get me what I desire."**  
"You got it!" Saria grinned.  
 **"A wise choice, Aghanim. Now go, and bring me the Miraculous!"**  
The black scales coated her body in the blink of an eye, resulting in her gaining height to where she was clothing model tall. Her attire was replaced with malachite green robes, head wrapping and veil that were lined with gold. A circlet was worn outside of the wrapping and bore a golden hourglass carving. Under her robes was a floor length dress with a tent silhouette in a moderate violet, the front bearing a royal blue clock with the hands at 12 and 6, almost resembling an eye with a slit. Her shoes were also replaced with winklepickers the same color as her robe.  
 _"The Miraculous will be yours, Master."_ a sultry undertone came from beyond the veil as dark golden eyes gleamed. _"But the justice against Cia comes first! HAHAHAHAHAUGH!"  
\- _  
Darunia couldn't really focus on his work in class. He was barely paying attention to what was being said by the teacher as he kept thinking about Saria and the incident this morning. _'That Cia… she keeps building bad karma up. It's gonna get at her soon enough.'_ He managed to get a bathroom break and texted his bros to check if they've heard of what happened and if either saw Saria around, getting at least one response a couple moments later.  
R: I heard what happened, I could probably replace that thing of Saria's?  
D: Ocarina  
R: Got'cha  
It was about 5 minutes before Darunia got a response again.  
L: Haven't seen Saria  
L: In group project with Cia  
L: Send help  
L: My right arm's numb  
L: HELP  
In two minutes, Link would find that the help he would get wasn't what he needed.  
 _"CIA IHEJIRIKA, THE END OF YOUR TIME IS NIGH! I, AGHANIM, SHALL BE YOUR JUDGE, JURY, AND VICIOUS EXECUTIONER!"_  
Cia's only response was staring with staring with wide eyes while holding onto Link's arm more.  
 _"Very well, makes it easier on me!"_ Aghanim's hands charged with sickly green energy and shot it off in a sphere of energy at her intended victim.  
Or that was the intent, as it turns out Link opening his binder was a decent enough shield from the projectile.  
"Everyone, get out of here!" Link commanded as he finally pulled his arm to freedom and now worked on getting Cia out of there. _'Way to go, Cia. You ended up making another Gufuu out of someone on the school grounds! Bet I can figure who, too…'_ But how was he going to contact Athena with Cia around? How _could_ he contact Athena, regardless of Cia?  
Though the thought of contacting his partner was soon forced out of his mind when he saw just what Aghanim could do.  
The green-robed Gufuu was laughing up a storm as she shot her magic at the students and teachers, and with every target hit they ended up growing some kind of plant on their person. Some even had flowers from trees growing out of them! So far, the one who probably had it worse was Groose, whose pompadour was now nothing more than a bunch of light pink roses.  
 _'That would be kinda funny if we all aren't in danger right now,'_ was Link's passing thought as he tried to find a place to take cover. Good news is that one of the janitors, in a haste to get out, ended up leaving a supply closet unlocked. He was very quick to shove Cia inside. "You stay here, no buts! This thing's after _you,_ so either park it or end up like everyone else!"  
"But a supply closet!?" Cia whined.  
"I said no buts!" He slammed the door before she could say anything else and ran off.  
"This is completely undignified for one such as myself!" Cia complained as she sat on the ground with an over the top huff, "What did I do to deserve being chased by some _horrifically_ colored monster, anyway?"  
 _'Oh, the things we all could list…'_ Link thought dryly.  
"We gotta stop her!" Bleddyn hissed as he flew out from his hiding spot and floated beside Link's head, "I mean the green one, by the way. We also gotta find Athy, and soon!"  
"I know, I know," Link sighed in annoyance, "we just need a place to hide and -"  
A scream stopped his train of thought.  
 _'Oh no, who was that!?'_ Out of instinct, he ran towards it.  
Aghanim was looming over Zelda and Ruto, magic ready to fire at the two girls, _"Any last words before your sins are brought to full bloom?"_  
"Get out of here!" Ruto shoved the other out of the way just as the spheres reached them, though instead of ending up with a plant growing out of her like everyone else, she ended up becoming a human-shaped tree, specifically the cypress tree.  
Zelda fell rather ungracefully and saw what happened to the other, her ocarina tumbling out with nary a sound and remaining in one piece due to being low to the ground "RUTO!"  
Aghanim turned to the blonde and was about to shoot when she noticed the little clay instrument, _"O-Ocarina!"_  
 **"Hm? Oh… is that -! Aghanim!"** Boarova roared through the connection. **"Take that ocarina! It is an ancient artifact that, in the proper hands, can bend time at will!"**  
 _"Okay!"_ She snatched it up without a second thought, her intent to blast Zelda into a topiary a thing of the past as she now started running away, _"I have my ocarina back, it's okay!"_  
"… _No,_ " Zelda breathed out while her eyes became pinpricks. _'I'm going to_ tear _Cia a new one for this!'_ That's when she noticed someone helping her up, "Link!"  
"[I only kind of saw what happened, what did she take from you?]"  
"Not the point, the point is that Saria was Gufuu'ed by Boarova!" Zelda turned to the Ruto cypress, "And she… i-if she hits you in the torso, you…"  
Link reached out and held her hands in his. Her reaction was hugging him while crying a little into his shoulder. He didn't mind this, but he hoped Bleddyn (who had something of a front seat right now) wasn't going to get spotted.  
 _'Don't cry, girlie, we'll fix this…'_ Bleddyn shoved himself a bit further into Link's hood to avoid being seen.  
Zelda let go after a moment and wiped her tears away with her forearm, "Forgive me, I-I wasn't myself there."  
"[It's okay. You just go and hide for a bit, okay? Our heroes should be here soon. I'll see if I can speak to one of them and ask if they can get your item back."] Link also made a mental note to figure out what hand motions to use to represent Athena and his alter ego.  
Zelda nodded with a small hum, "And you stay safe as well. Hopefully this'll all blow over soon." She gave him one more hug then ran off to hide… "Brawynn, spread your wings!" and then 5 seconds after hiding in a nearby bathroom, out came Athena with fire in her eyes.  
Link ran off the same time as Zelda did, though going in the opposite direction, "Bleddyn, time to howl!" and came out with his signature wolfish outcry as he ran in the last-known direction he saw Aghanim go in.  
Athena was quick to follow the noise and was soon beside her partner after a quick landing and ran beside him, "We have to be _extremely_ careful with this one, she can turn you into a tree if her magic lands a hit on your torso region!" She grabbed her partner by his hand and halted the both of them to a stop as a teacher ran by with a horror best not described happened on their head. "M-Merciful Nayru…"  
Sheikhan slipped his hand out from hers and covered her eyes while trying to stomach that little scene. "Sadly, Athena, I think we have to follow the trail of… _that_ in order to find our Gufuu. If it'll help, I'll scout ahead so only one of us has to deal with that again."  
Athena gently lowered his hand and shook her head, "It's like you said, 'even against our greatest fears combined'."  
"I said that when it came to me protecting you."  
"Doesn't mean it can't go both ways, Sheik. We're teammates, we watch each other's backs no matter what."  
Sheikhan smiled, not noticing her slight blush.

 _"Are you sure this is the place?"_ Aghanim questioned while making her way through a more restricted part of the park's forest. This area of trees was just past the ruins of the castle, which after the Argorok incident caused it to strangely begin to rebuild itself. Not that the majority of people knew, only the dedicated would have noticed the changes right off the bat. _"Why are you sending me out here with_ my _ocarina to begin with?"_  
 **"That instrument works best in a certain area of that place. With the proper notes, you can traverse time itself."**  
 _"Which means… I can keep Cia from ever existing! What's the song, my Master?"_ Aghanim grinned with wicked glee as she took a spot on a tree stump to play.  
 **"It's quite simple, actually, but simplicity is the base for complexity. Here, but play quickly, those two heroes are coming."**  
Aghanim felt something downloaded into her brain and, after a chill up her spine and screwing her eyes shut for a few seconds, stood and played the song.  
When the last note was finished, an unnatural air blew through the area (which Sheikhan felt and got him to run faster), the winds condensing into streams of magic the same coloration as the ocarina in Aghanim's hands. The streams then started taking a form, one of a door the size of a small house, an unusually shiny gray coloring with runic carvings displaying the Crest of Hyrule from centuries past that had sunbeams coming off if it.  
 _"Excellent!"_ cackled the possessed one as she pushed the double door open, finding now a gear that nearly filled up the space inside. It was a strange object, made of an unusual material that was blue but has a purple-pink sheen to it (was that even a sheen?), on it carved in white-silver the holy relic that Hyrule was founded on - the Triforce - in the center of it, also bearing what would be beams of light. Even stranger markings were spread out and connecting the centerpiece to three other insignias - those associated with Din above, Nayru to the left and Farore to the right. There also seemed to be gears alike to it that made the main gear move, but where they were resting was unclear…  
"We're too late!" Athena hissed quietly on seeing the large doors open.  
"She hasn't stepped through, we've still got time!" Sheikhan encouraged as he grabbed a nearby rock and tossed it, adding a bit of wind magic to help make it fly further, and hitting Aghanim mid-back.  
 _"AUGH!"_ the green-robed one turned to face them, eyes seething with anger, _"Don't think one little stone can stop me!"_ Then she worked on hitting the two of them with her magic.  
Sheikhan pulled out his trusty new shield - _'Thank you Miraculous copying'_ \- and deflected a blast that actually had a chance to nail them.  
"Huh, your Kwami's an artistic sort."  
"What do you mean, Athy?"  
Another blocked hit.  
"I noticed that there was something of a coat of arms on the front this time."  
"Really? When we're not in the middle of life and becoming a tree, I'll take a better look at it."  
Aghanim let out a scream of frustration as she upped the ante by shooting multiple spheres out and making their movements more erratic.  
"Serpentine!" Athena found herself flying and taking cover from the trees already around.  
Sheikhan did as Athena yelled in suggestion and worked on trying the attention more to himself, "You couldn't hit the broadside of a barn!"  
 _"You wanna take that bet?"_ she snapped her fingers and even more transmogrification spell spheres materialized around her, soon taking flight after the heroes. _"You can't keep this up forever. My Master gives me unlimited power - while you two will run out of steam soon enough, one way or another!"  
'She's right, we'll eventually run out of energy like this…'_ Athena hated to admit it, even mentally, but if the two of them kept this up they would fall victim soon enough.  
"Sorry greenie, but I'm not a betting kinda man!" Sheikhan growled as he deflected another blast of magic - only to have this spell hit the ground and suddenly grow a tree in front of him. The spook resulted in him running into the brand new timber and his shield getting knocked out of his hands (arcing it to his left and going a few yards away) by some branches that were coming up as it formed.  
"Sheikhan!" Athena screeched as she flew around the trunk of a dead tree - the magic giving it life again once she shook it off - and noticed that Aghanim was moving away from the door and to her partner.  
 _"I'm going to enjoy this. Any last words, cur?"_ She wasn't going to just shoot from a distance for this bit, oh no. She was going to turn him into a tree statue up close and personal.  
Sheikhan's vision was seeing three and he could only groan in response.  
 _"Not the most creative of final words, but I'll take them. Say goodbye to your flesh and blood!"_  
"NOOOO!" Time seemed to slow down for the winged hero as she flew at her opponent. She thought to get Sheikhan Wolf's abandoned shield, but there wasn't enough time! _'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…'_ She closed her eyes as her vision went white and felt her body seizing up, slowly and painfully losing the sensation of… well, everything.  
 _"And as for you…"_ Aghanim charged her magic once again to blast Sheikhan Wolf with no interruptions this time.  
 **"IMBECILE!"** Boarova roared, throwing Aghanim's focus. **"You sealed off Athena's Miraculous! I NEED BOTH!"**  
Aghanim flinched, the magic ceasing, and cowered as though she would be hit, _"I'm sorry, my Master! I'll figure a way to fix this, I promise!"_ then she remembered the portal, _"If I went back in time to gain the Miraculous of an Athena before this one, it should still work, right?"_  
 **"This blunder is on your head, Aghanim. Be sure that you do not make the same mistake again!"**  
 _"Yes, my Master!"_ She then ran towards the portal, _"How do I go back in time using this thing anyway?"_ She added on quietly.  
 **"Simply wait out the time to get back - WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"** Boarova snapped. **"The portal will remain open as long as the ocarina is both intact and in one's capable hands. NOW GET GOING!"**  
 _"Understood!"_ Aghanim picked up her running speed and went full tilt past the doors, through the gate and up the inner ring of gears that formed when she got closer, creating a staircase into the void. _'Remember, this means Cia won't exist either…'_ she kept telling herself that in her head as she ascended into the ink black above her.  
 _'Ugh, even with Bleddyn's power backing me up, that really hurt…'_ Sheikhan grasped his head with a moan as his vision was finally focused. He then noticed an unusual smell in the air, something he hadn't smelled in a few years but still remembered, _'Sakura?'_ He looked up and felt his heart stop, "No…" The teen hero continued to chant that one word as if it would make everything reverse, that what he saw before him wasn't happening, that his promise to protect his partner suddenly didn't go up in smoke.  
There before him stood Athena, posed as though she was about to land any second now, no longer human. Instead she was now a cherry blossom tree, the flowers replacing her golden braids and white-tipped blue wings.  
"ATHENAAAAAAAAAAAA!" He screamed into the forest with desperation as he fell to his knees and hands, "This can't… she's not… she can't be!" He let out a sound that was at a tone where it was indistinguishable from the mournful cry of a man or beast as tears streams down the sides of his face.  
But she could not respond.  
With stilted breathing he stood and looked at his partner once more, disbelief on his face at what had happened. "Athy… I'm supposed to protect you." _'"We're teammates, we watch each other's backs no matter what".'_ "Athy, you… you weren't supposed to take a hit for me! Especially _this_ kind! How could you, it should've been me! It _should_ have been me!" He stared at her in silence for a moment before carefully putting his forehead against hers, "I…I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you… but why, my goddess? You would have… you… could have…"  
It hit him like a sucker punch to the gut, and the emotional weight hurt just as much.  
"You knew I couldn't get hit because _I'm_ the fighter. _I'm_ the one who has the equipment. You _don't_ , you can only fly or shoot." one of his fists clenched, "That's why… you took that blow." Fire and anger boiled inside of him as he raised his tear-stained face, "This won't be a sacrifice in vain, my goddess, I swear to Din, Nayru and Farore themselves! I'll take Agahnim down and…and… !" He paused to stare at her face once more, the fire dying down just a bit. "She's still Saria… just a very hurt Saria. I'll save you both, I promise."  
With that, he reluctantly left her side, reclaimed his shield and ran up the gear stairs, mind focused on finding his possessed friend to save his partner. It may be that such focus is what lead him to where Agahnim had ended up, despite no ocarina in hand.

Boarova felt his direct connection to Aghanim disappear as she entered the gate. This did not bode well in his mind. "Hrm… it appears that I have to follow. At least this way that annoying sprout won't make that mistake again, and who knows?"  
The grizzly swine cackled as he twisted his trident into a portal to the forest. "I just might get more than I bargained for. HAHAHAHAHA!"

When Sheikhan Wolf had finished his time walking, which he wasn't sure if it was something that went by quickly or slowly (there seemed to be no sense of time during the activity), he tumbled out back into the forest. He could kind of tell that he just didn't end up in a U-turn due to the lack of cherry blossom Athena, that tree that he ran into earlier and that it was nighttime, a full moon lighting what it could. "Okay, so what year is it and where do I go from here? Probably should get a lay of the land…" He pulled out his trusty clawshot and went up, up and away.  
He was quick to regret making a choice due to what he saw looming before him. "Nayru's Love…"  
Looming over the forest was an imposing structure that felt darkest in the golden moonlight. An array of towers branched from a central acropolis. Even in the darkness, the rugged stone was quite eerie.  
"That… has some _bad_ mojo." Then he realized something, "If there's an Athena this far back… how can I get in contact with her?" He looked up at the sky and tilted his head as he focused in on the moon, "Do I dare live out the clichè?" A pause. "Yes." He breathed in as deeply as possible then released the mightiest howl he's unleashed yet.

Aghanim wandered the lit streets, going by memory in possibility. She knew where Cia's home was and that was the best place to find her.  
 _'Soon, the world will be a much brighter place.'_  
 **AAOOOWOOOOOOOOO!**  
 _"What was that?!"_  
 **"Hrm, it would seem the mongrel is calling reinforcements."**  
 _"Tch, probably in vain. As if anyone would respond to that in this time period. W-Wait a sec, how are you still speaking to me?"_  
 **"Oh, for the sake of Din. I walked through the gate, you foolish girl. I will not have you blundering about without supervision. You're lucky that there is something else in this time to garner my attention."**  
 _"Very well…"_ She grumbled a bit and tried to recall which street to turn on, _"She's in the Castle District, which way was that again?"_  
 **"Down Kondo Drive then turn onto Miyamoto Boulevard. Pass the Lylat parking garage and you're on the edge."**  
 _"Excellent, thank you!"_ And away she went.

-  
"Incompetents… every single one." Boarova grumbled as he began his trek to the castle.  
 ** _AWOOOOOOO!_**  
The responding howl made him glower to the sky, before pulling out the flower he plucked from the tree before the gate.  
"Every moment counts here."

"I got a response?" Sheikhan wasn't sure what to make of that, "Guess I better see who responded then… really hope this won't bite me in the butt." With some conduction motions, he was airborne for a while before going back to zipping through the trees with his clawshot until he closer to the city, then he switched out to parkour until he met who responded to his call on a rooftop of what seemed to be an empty house.  
Only to narrowly avoid what he managed to get a glimpse of being an arrow that looked _extremely_ alike to Athena's. "Hey! What gives!?" His reply was another volley of arrows that he dodged and rolled. He was about to speak again when he heard the sound of grating metal, and pulled off his shield to defend against the sword strike. "HEY! WATCH IT!"  
"Sheikhan Wolf, stand down! Look at his shield!" came a voice that, though younger sounding, was rather familiar to the teen's ears.  
"Kinda busy, Athy!" It took the kid a bit to realize it wasn't _him_ she was talking to.  
"What did you say?" asked two voices, the question also halting the sword attacks.  
"'Kinda busy, Athy'. Why is this soooooo - _ooh_." Now he got why there was confusion, because standing before him was the Athena and Sheikhan Wolf of the past generation.  
This Athena was a greater contrast to the modern-day counterpart, as she wore a ninja gi top and hakama, tabi, and a unique style of geta, all retaining the winged warrior's signature sapphire blue coloring, but with some white accents here and there. Her hair was also so platinum blonde to the point of looking white instead, all gathered up in a hairstyle reminiscent of a shrine maiden held back with a white bow. The only things that didn't change were the mask and the wings, and the only break in coloring was her red eyes, a pair he knew rather well in the future.  
His lupine counterpart was dressed similar to him, though his shade of green was a bit brighter than his, not to mention the lack of a scarf and shield. He was a tad bulkier, and of course taller. The furred armor was similar to his, if a bit brighter as well, maybe some sandy color? He couldn't tell in the light. The other Wolf held out his hand to let Sheikhan up.  
"Sorry about that, kid. Couldn't be too careful."  
"So, you're the previous Athena and Sheikhan Wolf? You look… well, mostly her, different from what I had expected." The younger hero couldn't shake off this weird sense he knew the bigger Wolf.  
"Got a problem with that, wolf pup?" this Athena glowered.  
Yup, he knew that glare anywhere. "No, just… m-making sure I have my facts straight, m-ma'am." he stammered a bit, an old habit he did when Impa was being more strict than usual. _'That's Impa alright.'_  
"Ma'am!? Why I oughta -!"  
"Athy, please! Easy!" Wolf got in between the two. "Let's not do anything rash."  
"Sheik, why should we trust what this kid says? He's clearly some sort of…of… copycat! With creative liberties!"  
Sheikhan growled. "Copycat?! Like you have room to talk, shrine maiden cosplay! Too many anime dramas for your get-up?"  
"You wanna say that again!?" Athena rolled up her sleeves and worked on storming around her partner.  
"Ooo I'm _so_ scared, what're ya gonna do? Whap me with a fan?"  
She summoned her bow once more, which looked a mitee bigger with more intricate golden carvings than the modern Athena's. It was also charging with a blue spell in the arrowhead. "You _wish_."  
"Alright, that's enough, both of you!" Wolf snarled in between them.  
"What do you _expect_ me to do with this punk then, **hmm**?"  
"Hear him out, my goddess. Don't you realize something's missing?" he pointed to Sheikhan's side.  
Athena lowered her bow and examined the younger hero with great detail, then her eyes widened when she figured it out, "Where's _your_ Athena, kid?"  
Sheikhan stilled himself before clenching his fist. "She got hit by a Gufuu's attack trying to save me."  
Athena looked to her Wolf in silence before looking back at the younger, "So she's… incapacitated. Understood."  
"And now that Gufuu's here in this time searching for something."  
"Any ideas what it is? Or rather, _who_? We've been at this a long time, pup, don't think we don't know that targets can be people too."  
"I know the victim, and I think I know the target… the target is… very clingy."  
"Depending on how far back you went, said target's probably too young to really care about that kinda thing." Athena stated with a slight shrug.  
"But she's still a target." Wolf said. "Butterfly effect."  
"Okay, Wolf Pup, what's the target's name and where does she live in this time?"  
Sheikhan crossed his arms in thought. "Cia Ihejirika, Castle District."  
"Ihejirika? The up-and-coming fashion mogul?" Athena blinked in surprise.  
"But her name's Maud, and she hasn't been pregnant… I think." Wolf mused.  
"That doesn't matter right now." Sheikhan stopped their mental process. "We need to stop Aghanim before she gets to her. The girl may be a pain in my time, but that doesn't mean a child's life should be destroyed."  
Athena looked to Wolf, "Right… Castle District it is." though she looked rather worried that they were heading there.

Boarova grunted as he fought through the growing brush. It would seem the castle's current resident had a boon of plant traps to protect it.  
"Insufferable snapper plants!" he swung his trident and cleaved through them and the thorned vines. When shelled cephalopods rising from the moat began to spit rocks at him, he patience was growing thin as he used his magic to boil the water and the creatures with it.  
Passing the moat, he now saw giant marble statues guarding the main gate. As he stepped forward, a small spirit floated past, giggling as the golden light of its lantern waking the guardians. Boarova only snarled as they readied their warhammers and charged at him.  
"I have no time for this. You dare breathe false light into _MY_ domain?! **YOU MUST DIE!** "

 _'Hey wait a sec, isn't this house…?'_ Sheikhan's double blue eyes widened as the three of them landed on the roofing of the Callaghan family. "Why are we here?"  
"Needed to figure out what to do in this area before we can go further," Athena stretched her arms and wings a bit after she landed.  
"Gotta keep this hush-hush, especially around here," Wolf added.  
"And we're at the Callaghan house _why?_ "  
Athena pointed three blocks down the line. "Because they are the _ever-so-lucky_ neighbors to that witch."  
 _'Oh right… forgot about that due to being busy being trained by the woman who - apparently - fought villainy by moonlight and also at least_ **tried** _to see how Zelda was doing.'_ "If memory serves, they have a kid here, so we gotta be extra quiet. Don't wanna wake the little princess up."  
Wolf chuckled at that. "Indeed. She's a bit young for the waking kiss."  
"I said we gotta _keep_ her asleep!" Sheikhan's face went a bit red, _'I'm not about to kiss the toddler-y-aged version of my crush, that'd be way creepy!'_  
"She better be asleep…" Athena muttered, then quickly whipped her head to the roof entrance/exit to find her small charge up and staring at them. _'I gave her warm milk, I read her a story, I made sure all her stuffed toys were in the right order, HOW is she awake!?'_  
"Wa's goin' on?" asked the little blonde child as she took a few steps into the open. She was in a lavender-colored onesie with little kittens covering it, "Are ya havin' a hero meetin'?"  
Now, at that age Sheikhan Wolf (the younger one) didn't really take into full consideration how Zelda looked as a young child, except that she liked to play pretend and make mud pies. Having aged and developing a tiny soft spot for cute things, his heart may or may not have melted just a little bit from how adorable she was. Especially from how her eyes grew big at the sight of him.  
"NEW GWEEN PUPPY!"  
 _'Yup, dead. Totally dead. I have no resistance to her. I have to break her heart by leaving, eventually. Why does this happen to ME of all people?'_ 'New green puppy' soon found his leg was being hugged with as much strength as her little body could muster in her adoration.  
"Zelda…" Athena crossed her arms, "what have I told you about staying up?"  
"No' to do it unless there is a very good reason."  
"So, you are up because…?"  
"I found a puppy that I like?"  
Athena groaned and slapped her forehead with a hand, "This girl, I swear…"  
Wolf, on the other hand, was howling in laughter.  
"Zelda, you can't keep him, he's only visiting for a while."  
"Awww, can't he stay longer? Pweeeeease?"  
Sheikhan, meanwhile, was internally crying.  
"He can't, he's gotta get back to his own… superhero team once we track down the villain he's had to chase down here."  
"I can be his Athy!" Zelda hugged Sheikhan's leg tighter. "I like him!"  
This lead to more internal crying on his part.  
"Aww, what about me, little princess?" Wolf sniggered as he crouched at her level.  
"No! You smell like Papa's office."  
That got Sheikhan to snort and followed that up with a laugh.  
"Oh dear, what's going on here?" another voice came from the doorway. They all turned and Sheikhan's voice went silent again.  
This new person looked very much the part of an older Zelda, wearing a nightgown that resembled his own Athena's in terms of silhouette. Her long golden hair glimmered beautifully in the moonlight as she walked over and picked little Zelda up.  
"Hi, Mama! Look, I found a puppy! Can we keep him, pleeeease? I can be his Athy and stop the bad eyeballs."  
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but you're still too young. Plus, it's _very_ much past your bedtime, little miss."  
"Mrs. Callaghan, I apologize. We are tracking a dangerou-" Athena stopped at the lady's hand.  
"Athena, we've done this time and again. Call. Me. Hylia. And it's not your fault. This little gumdrop just can't stop herself from getting into trouble."  
Sheikhan's internal noises went from crying to screaming. He was looking at _Hylia,_ Zelda's mom! Wait, where has he seen that nightgown before? It itched _somewhere_ in his head…  
"So, a new Sheikhan Wolf?" Hylia asked as she looked him over.  
"Y-yes, ma'am!" the younger hero panicked.  
"Aww, don't worry dearie, I don't bite," Hylia smiled at him ( _'Zelda has that same smile!'_ ) and gave his ears a small pet, "but I'm curious, how is there two of you at the same time?"  
"Er… time travel gate in the Korok Woods?"  
And now, awkward silence.  
"Oh my…" Hylia spoke first, "what's happened that's caused you to go back all these years?"  
 _'She took it in stride?!'_ Athena and Wolf thought in shock.  
"I've been around you two long enough to not be too surprised anymore," Hylia deadpanned at the older heroes, which got Zelda to giggle a little. "Now… the reason?"  
Sheikhan gulped down rather hard before speaking, "The Athena I work with got… caught in the crosshairs of her own choice, and… I-I'm trying to keep her sacrifice from being in vain."  
Athena whispered something into Hylia's ear before giving Sheikhan a somewhat awkward pat on the shoulder.  
"Oh, puppy!" Zelda reached out to him, having heard a bit of what happened to his Athena and, once her mother got her close enough, hugged his face while petting his ears.  
Sheikhan just awkwardly leaned a bit into the hug, "Thank you." And he was back to that internal crying as well.  
"Are you sure we can't keep him, Mama? He may be sad, but he sounds really nice!"  
Make that internal _melodramatic_ crying.  
"I'm sorry, honey, but he has to save his Athy before anything else happens to her. He promised her, and you know what happens when you break a promise." Hylia gently pried Zelda off of Sheikhan and hugged her now.  
"The bad eyeballs will come and eat you!"  
"Yes," Hylia got a chuckle out of that, "but promises are very hard to fix once they're broken as well. Especially between superheroes. Now, you _really_ have to go to bed now, do you want to say anything to your new friend before we go back inside?"  
Zelda puffed out her cheeks before looking at Sheikhan, "Can I have a goodnight kiss?"  
Sheikhan's eyes just about fell out of his skull, "Uhh… wh-where does she u-usually get a goodnight k-kiss?" He then mentally cursed at himself when his voice broke on 'kiss'.  
"On the forehead, dear," Hylia gave him an encouraging smile.  
"Thank you," Sheikhan muttered before leaning in and giving his little princess a gentle peck on her forehead. He was then frozen for a good solid minute and a half after mother and daughter left when she gave him one in return on the cheek.  
"I think the pup broke," Athena rolled her eyes.  
"Hey kid, you awake?"  
Sheikhan was about to respond when there was a resounding **BOOM** that pierced the night air. A quarter of him debated running inside the house to make sure Zelda wasn't crying, but seeing the serious faces on the older two made him decide to stay. "What made that noise?"  
"Trouble," Athena looked between where the Gufuu was going to strike and where the explosion originated, "and conflict."  
"You guys go see what made that noise, I'll stop Aghanim!" Sheikhan was about to jump away when his older counterpart stopped him with a first grasp on the shoulder.  
"Not so fast, kid," Wolf started. "That explosion was coming from Malladus' stronghold. If anyone's gutsy enough to try him, we're lucky for the distraction so we can go after Aghanim. Besides." he flicked Sheikhan's (wolf) ear as he smiled a wolfish grin. "Athena and Sheikhan work best together. I'm kinda wondering how a two for one deal will go down."  
"Oh, this'll be good," Sheikhan's own grin mimicked the other's.  
"If you two are done with your bromance moment…" Athena started walking towards the intended estate, "we've got a Gufuu putting a child in danger!" and then took to the air.  
"Coming, Athy!" the Wolves chorused and ran after her. Sheikhan pulling out the clawshot to the older's dismay.  
"How come you get an item like that?"  
"Maybe the mutt likes me more."  
Wolf looked down at his own Miraculous, "I feed you tiny pumpkin pies and _this_ is the thanks I get? Sometimes I swear he's a cat instead."  
"I know, right!?"  
"Anyway…" Wolf did similar conducting motions to Sheikhan and then was launched into the air with a rather strong gust, "let's go!"  
Sheikhan launched his clawshot and followed.

 _'That took_ way _longer than it should have to get here…'_ Aghanim thought as she went up to a nearby window of the Ihejirika household, peered in and focused her powers until she had managed to teleport inside with a dramatic poof of blood red smoke. _'But I'll soon make up for lost time. Now, where would Cia be?'_ She had a menacing grin hidden in her veil while she stalked through the dark hallways to find any indication of a nursery.  
One well-timed cry sealed the target's fate.  
 _'Found her!'_ Aghanim picked up her pace to the noise, only to hear another's footsteps and was forced to hide in the shadows of a nearby hall.  
"Cia… oh there you are, sweetie. What's wrong?"  
Aghanim looked to see a slender, tanned woman in a blue working dress with long white hair in a low ponytail. She looked like what Cia could be if she was actually nice.  
 _'"Sweetie"? Ugh, gag me! This woman doesn't know how much of a spawn she is. I can either wait or just shoot the two of them… both are rather tempting. I'll save the naive one the pains of her services first!'_ she stepped from the shadows, knocking over a vase in the hall, startling her victims. The woman turned in surprise holding the small child.  
"Wh-wh-who are you?" she asked, her pale violet eyes shuddering behind her glasses.  
Aghanim glared at the woman and the child in her hand. _"Just a lady doing the world a service. Now, hand over the brat."_  
The woman's breathing hitched, but she stayed firm. "No… I won't let you hurt Cia."  
Aghanim laughed. _"You wouldn't say that if you knew what she would become. NOW HAND HER OVER AND I'LL MAKE IT EASY ON THE BOTH OF YOU!"_  
The woman barreled past her as she ran into the main foyer, she went to grab the phone, only to be struck in the leg by Aghanim's blast, causing her to take root and stumble, holding the child tight. "I won't let you hurt her!"  
 _"How sad… too bad you have no say in the matter!"_ With a charged spell in hand, Aghanim threw it with a toss and hit the woman square in the back, her body beginning to turn into a willow tree. Her scream woke the child up fully. "WANIA!"  
"I…I'm sorry, Cia… be a good girl for me… o-" her final words were silenced as her face gnarled into willow bark.  
The child only cried harder.  
 _"Shut up, you little pain! I did her a favor by sparing her life from serving yours!"_ Aghanim charged up another spell as Cia wriggled and lamented 'Wania'. However, her focus was broken by the sounds of breaking glass, speedy footsteps and a large body emerging from the dark tackling her. _"Kyaa!"_  
All she got for a response was an animalistic snarling as the grip around her tightened.  
Athena flew in, carefully pried Cia of the willow branches holding her and flew out of the house.  
 _"Come back here!"_ Aghanim snarled as she gave Wolf a good deck across the face, causing him to let go due to the sudden pain. She scrambled to her feet and started to run after the winged guardian until she felt something metal hit her in the back with a tremendous force behind it.  
"That was for Athena!" Sheikhan growled.  
Aghanim yelped again as she hit the ground, but soon got up with a furious blaze in her eye. _"You impertinent mongrels! Can't you see I'm making the world a better place by getting rid of that witch?!"_  
"For better or for worse, you're endangering an innocent child!"  
 _"INNOCENT?!"_ Aghanim shrieked. Her hands wrenched out as spell orbs flew out at the two wolves, who successfully dodged each of them in her rant. _"That child is nothing but pawn and the it will be a goddesses-send to have her gone for all eternity! She's guilty of so much and gets away with it! BUT NO MORE! Guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, guilty, gui-GAAAAAH!"_  
She stopped her tirade as an arrow pierced her back. Glaring up, she saw Athena on the second floor with her bow drawn.  
"Shut up, you brat. The sins of the future shouldn't be paid with a life in the past."  
"Beautifully put, my goddess." Wolf smiled as the lupine duo surrounded Aghanim.  
 _"This is far from over!"_ she yelled as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.  
"Great, where'd she go!?" Sheikhan groaned.  
"More importantly, where's the girl?" Wolf asked.  
"She's safe." Athena said looking into Wolf's eyes. The silent confirmation and acknowledgement was all that was needed between the two.

 _"Well, that went extremely peachy!"_ Aghanim seethed in utter sarcasm while creeping through the darkness back to the time travel gate, black scales forming around her eyes.  
 **"You took your time, Aghanim."**  
 _"That's what happens when you end up going down the path you_ thought _was right, but turned out_ not _to be, and then you get hit_ twice _in a night trying to hit your target!"_  
 **"Irrelevant. I'm just about finished here. You will return to the gate with both Sheikhans' bracelets and Athena's choker. Understood?"**  
 _"Yes, my Master… they shouldn't be long. I'm heading there as we speak, and you know the hero types - always willing to walk into a trap, whether they know it or not."_  
 **"Just get the Miraculous, or I will turn your power on yourself. IS THAT CLEAR?!"**  
Aghanim squeaked in terror, _"Yes sir! Understood! Crystal clear! They won't know what hit them! And then…then I'll figure out where they hid Cia, blast her and rip her right from her roots! Heheheahahaha-AUGH!"_ Her monologue was cut off as an arrow struck her again. Turning to see the goddess and her wolves brought another snarl to her face. _"You just don't know when to quit, DO YOU!?"_  
"Funny thing about us 'hero types', we're rather tenacious," Wolf smirked as he drew his blade.  
"Nor will we let the innocent be your victims!" Athena added with her own snarl.  
 _'Or let my Athy down!'_ Sheikhan mentally added with sword and shield in hand.  
Both Wolves charged forward, leaping this way and that with splendid grace as they avoided Aghanim's blasts.  
 _"Stay still, you curs!"_  
"Not on your life!" They retorted. With a quick glance at each other, they nodded. Sticking their hands in their pouches, they cried out. "Item Change!"  
The younger gained a boomerang similar to what he got when he touched Athena's wings, but was so big (it was taller than both Wolves) to the point of it being comical, while his older counterpart got an archery bow with a quiver stocked full of arrows.  
"This is Athena's thing, what is _up_ with you, mutt!?"  
"I'd like to know too!" Sheikhan growled. "What am I supposed to do with this thing? Hunt demons?!"  
"Focus, you'll figure it out!" Athena snapped as she was now swooping about to avoid the same fate as the Athena of the future.  
"Easy for you to say, cosplay queen!"  
"You wanna talk cosplay, look at your Item Charge! I've seen Final Fantasy weapons _smaller_ than that thing!"  
"Nothing beats the Buster Sword and you know it!"  
"Pup, Athy, not in the middle of a battle! Work out your differences _after_ we've purified the girl!" Wolf hissed while doing a rolling dodge.  
Sheikhan growled, before clicking his heels to switch to the Pegasus Boots. _'At least the mutt let me keep these active when need be.'_ he dashed toward Aghanim and swung the boomerang. A twister formed like with Athena's but it wasn't as powerful but MUCH larger. "Hey Wolf! Target practice!" he called as Aghanim was flung in the air.  
"Let's see how I do!" Wolf nocked an arrow in, lined up his shot and fired, the arrowhead glinting a bright silver-white in the moonlight as it traveled to its target. He did a fist pump when the arrow struck true, "This is actually pretty fun, I can see why your weapon of choice is this, Athy!"  
"Where's that Gufuu of hers?" Athena mumbled to herself as she focused in on Aghanim's form. "Guys, she's not weakened enough for the Gufuu eye to show up yet!"  
"On it!" Sheikhan caught the robbed villain in another boomerang-made whirlwind and Wolf shot her a few times, some of the shots missing, but Athena helped by shooting her own as well.  
Aghanim screamed, moaned and flailed in anger as she was suspended in the air and shot at. She was getting very annoyed, tired and wanted this done. _"ENOUGH!"_ She let out a burst of energy that knocked the heroes onto the ground, sent the boomerang flying elsewhere and finally got herself back on the ground. _"I have had it with you three getting in my way!"_ Aghanim formed a larger spell orb in between her hands and focused her all in it.  
Sheikhan panicked and used the clawshot to grab the giant boomerang and used the increased momentum to send it straight at Aghanim. The gale's force knocked the energy from her hands into the forest, where an explosive flash of green took place and a giant tree sprouted and towered over the others in the woods.  
"Whoa, seems all that bark is worse than her bite." Wolf snickered, much to Athena's restrained shriek of a groan.  
 _'Are terrible puns always a Sheikhan Wolf thing? And her reaction always an Athena thing?'_ Sheikhan wondered due to their dynamic on the joke. His curiosity was interrupted when he heard a strange breaking noise, which also caught the attentions of the other 3. It had been, oddly enough, coming from the forest.  
"Great, what now?" Athena readied her next shot at the noise in the woods.  
"I bet two orange Rupees it's Malladus." Wolf said.  
"You're on." Sheikhan smirked.  
"Guys, not now!" Athena barked.  
 **"AGHANIM, YOU IDIOTIC FESTERING TERMITE!"** echoed throughout the woods, startling the heroes and villain.  
 _"Gyaaaah!"_ Aghanim shrieked.  
"That's Boarova!" Sheikhan felt the anger from earlier with his Athena starting to boil up in his gut.  
"Boarova?" the predecessors asked.  
"My generation's Malladus, I think. Does Malladus possess people to do his bidding and you two have to fix everything?"  
"Day in, day out, pup."  
Any further banter was cut off as Aghanim's scream pierced the air, as their attention went back to see her robes and body being twisted into a topiary display.  
 _"Please, Master, I'm sorry!"_  
 **"You are quite lucky that your power only has so much ability against me, but that does not excuse your folly. This is your punishment. Now, get the Miraculous or you will stay in this time with the heroes. You have five minutes. DO YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU ROTTED EXCUSE FOR A PATSY?!"**  
 _"YES, YES, I UNDERSTAND, MASTER! I'LL GET THEM, I PROMISE! JUST STOP, PLEASE!"_ Aghanim's pleaded. Her transfiguration halted. She looked at her limbs to see branches sprouting from her fingers. She screamed in anguish and directed her fury on the trio. _"You."_ she threw back her arms with another spell, this one red. _"YoU dId ThIs To Me!"_  
"Not good!" All three heroes started to back up with their weapons, though Sheikhan was having some difficulty with the boomerang since it was so huge and - wait a moment.  
"Aha!" Sheikhan built up momentum with a few spins, threw the boomerang at the magic. If this is what he thought/hoped, the spell wouldn't alter the boomerang since it was made of wood, not… whatever his Athena's wing-boomerangs were made of. _'C'mon luck, don't fail me now!'_  
Thankfully, luck was with him tonight, as the boomerang not only knocked her arms away, dispersing the spell, but it grazed her headgear, showing a small familiar wing.  
"Wolf! Stun her so I can slice off her headdress!"  
"On it, kid!" Wolf replied as he drew his arrow back. _'Can't have the new boy show me up here.'_ The arrow flew straight and true into Aghanim's diaphragm, literally knocking the wind out of her, "Go, pup, go!"  
With the help of the Pegasus Boots, Sheikhan ran forward before his opponent had time to register what was going on, slammed his shield into her torso and jumping while brandishing his sword again and cutting her veil off with it.  
 _"GrAaAaUgH!"_ Aghanim screamed, showing the blaring red eye in her mouth.  
"Yeesh, a bit different than what we usually see, eh, my goddess?"  
Athena made a small shuddering noise, "Chances are we'll see worse down the line than this." She quickly lined up her shot while she still had a chance to strike, the energy of her Kwami flowing through her with a sky-blue aura surrounding her that also made her arrow glow like the sun "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" One released Light Arrow later, the Gufuu was now squeezing itself out of Aghanim's mouth as she returned to being Saria.  
The Gufuu fluttered about with a daze in its eye, and did not notice the edge of the boomerang splat him into the ground.  
"And _that's_ for Saria!" Sheikhan snarled as the boomerang started to turn dark from the possession.  
"You think your spell will work for a Sheikhan Wolf from the future?" Wolf questioned as he watched the boomerang change colors.  
"Won't know until we try…" Athena got another arrow ready, "Miraculous Restoration!" and sent it flying at the large weapon, holding her breath with worry whether this will work for the youngster or not.  
The boomerang dispersed into tiny pieces, leaving only the Navii. It landed in Sheikhan's hands, with a sigh.  
"Sorry, little guy. I need you more in my time than here." he looked around to find something to carry it in, and luckily grabbed a glass bottle with a large brim from a trash bin.  
"Ugh, my head… what happened?" Saira looked around once everything was in focus, "Wh-Where am I? And… why is there a taller version of Sheikhan Wolf? And when did Athena change costumes? Why is it nighttime?!"  
Wolf walked over to her and knelt beside her, "It's a bit of a long story…" he patted her lightly on the shoulder, "but all that matters is you're safe."  
"Do you remember what happened prior to your possession?" Athena asked as she came up to the two of them.  
"Yeah, uh… I was thinking about what this girl, Cia, did to me before school and I just… got so _mad_ and sad from what she did to me. My friends tried to help, but I didn't really let their comfort in. I was… stubbornly holding _onto_ the negativity."  
"Anger isn't something to shun, but you can't let it take over your other emotions as well," Athena stated in a sage-like manner, "in the end, it will only hurt you and those around you further."  
"Again, Athy? Come on, you used that same phrase two weeks ago on… what was her name… Farore?"  
"It's late and we've had to deal with time travel," Athena scowled at her partner, "secondly, that's still really good advice."  
 _'Wait, isn't that the name of… Saria's mom?'_ Sheikhan questioned in his head.  
Saira just stared at the two heroes with confusion before going over to the Sheikhan Wolf of her modern time, "I didn't… hurt anyone, did I?"  
 _'Cruuuuuuuuuuuuud…'_ How he wished his Athena was here to help, chances are the Athena of this time won't be so gentle about the willow tree woman. Before he could give an answer, the older Athena came up from behind Saria and knocked her out with a well-placed pushing of a pressure point. "What was that for, older Athena!?"  
"You really think she'd be able to take the news of finding out she turned a bystander into something we can't reverse well?" she asked bluntly as she caught Saria.  
Sheikhan had managed to grab something from Saria's hand as she was forced asleep, something he recognized rather on the spot. _'Zelda's ocarina! So_ this _is what Aghanim took earlier. I'll give this back to her once the Navii's fixed everything in my time.'_  
"Some things are just better left unsaid, kid," as much as Wolf hated to admit, that kind of thing would destroy anyone who didn't have a murderous bone in their body, so it just something best left to keep secret.  
Sheikhan took his friend from Athena with a sigh and reluctant nod as she looked down at her, "I'm sorry, Saria…"  
They returned to the gate - which was turning slower than before - and Sheikhan turned to the past heroes. "Well, uh… thanks for tonight."  
Wolf smirked. "Don't mention it, pup. Something tells me we'll see each other again sooner than you think."  
"Take better care of your Athena, cub. We won't always be there to save you."  
"Yes, ma'am," Sheikhan winced at calling her that, but quickly made his way out before this Athena could say anything about it. It was strange, going up (or was it down?) the stairs once more, but the weight of anger in him that was there the first time he traveled through was absent. It makes the trip a little more peaceful in that regard. Saria had also woken up by the time he exited the gate, it closing and fading from existence once the two of them were safely on the other side.  
"Man, that was a weird… dream?" the green-haired one wasn't sure what else to consider that experience. It was rather surreal, something about tree people and nearly becoming a tree herself. She just figured it was all a weird dream, one she hoped to never relive again.  
"At least everything's okay now." Sheikhan sighed in relief and set the other on her feet, "You up for walking?"  
"Yeah. I'm small, but I'm a lot tougher than that lunkhead cockatoo." the girl puffed out her cheeks in a mock glare.  
Sheikhan got a light-hearted chuckle out of that, "You got that right. Think you can get home by yourself?"  
"Yup! I can handle myself pretty well, I've got the element of surprise on my side." She grinned a bit as she put her hands on her hips.  
"Alright, alright. Get going."  
Saria gave him a mock salute and ran out as quickly as her legs could carry her.  
"And now, to fix what happened…" Sheikhan took out the Navii and carefully plopped the little thing in his hand. "Okay, go do your thing. I dunno if it's possible, but fix Saria's ocarina too?" Then he carefully threw it up and watched it fly, leaving its pale pink sparkles behind. Some of them washed over the cherry blossom tree that was Athena, her body soon returning to normal.  
"Athy!" Sheikhan just about jumped over to her and picked her up in a big hug, "You're okay! You're okay!" he kept chanting that as a few tears spilled out of his eyes and over his mask.  
"Wuaaah! Yes I'm okay, Sheik, what are you sooo… when was there a giant tree in the forest?"  
"Giant tree?" He had been so focused on his friends that he went a bit tunnel vision. "What giant tr- oooh." he had followed her gaze to find that, yes indeed, there was the tree from Aghanim's magic. "Uh… would you believe that it was an accident caused by Aghanim hitting Boarova?"  
"She did _what?_ " Athena's mouth was slightly agape in befuddlement before the words sank in, "Wait, he was there!?"  
"Don't know why, maybe just to make sure she didn't screw up…"  
"Okay, you're gonna have to tell me the _whole_ story."  
Sheikhan Wolf froze, internally panicking at the thought of telling his partner about being kissed by a toddler version of his crush while on the mission to save the toddler version of said crush's nemesis. "Um… well, you see…" a distinctive beeping went off. "Oh, would you look at the time! Sorry, my goddess, but I gotta go!"  
Athena sighed and nodded in understanding, "Next time, then?"  
"Who knows? Maybe ask your predecessor?" Sheikhan fired off his clawshot and flew off.  
Athena blinked. "Sheik knows who Athena was back then? _Does that mean he knows who I am?!_ " There was a panic settling in before a new kind took place when she remembered that school was still going on, maybe. "I've gotta get to class!" And away she flew.

Boarova stepped into the dim ring of flames, a wry chuckle at his throat. His trident grating at the stone altar floor.  
"Despite some… mishaps, this excursion was most beneficial. With the only positive reinforcement on my bishop gone, she will be all the more spiteful, and all the more willing to amass my armies."  
The dark Miraculous king glimpsed at several stone pieces he had procured from the ruins upon his return. "Those fools don't realize they'll be doing me a favor. With each 'victory' they have, it is one step closer to ultimate power… though having their Miraculous on my person would definitely be a better use for them. Oh well." he scuffed his boot on the floor, revealing an electric blue skull with glaring yellow eyes thrashing about, though it seemed to have been worn from the ages.  
With a sudden shift of the stones, an intricate sigil glowed and then dimmed. He smirked as he tossed a feather into the group of stones, the sigil flickering more.  
"Soon enough, throughout the passage of time and millennia of worn patience. I will have what is rightfully _**MINE!**_ "

Link crawled onto his bed with a long sigh. Telma, bless her heart and willpower, managed to give everyone the rest of the school day off due to the trauma that was caused today. Right now he just wanted a bit of peace as Bleddyn consumed his daily (if not hourly) dose of pumpkin seeds on the futon. The one really good thing that came out of this was that the Navii had listened to his request and Saira's ocarina was in full repair (which he found out via many texts). That, and Athena being returned to normal.  
"Today was a weird day," he concluded while rolling over so he was on his back and staring at the ceiling. "Chances are nobody's gonna go near trees for some time though. Can't really say I'd blame them."  
"Yeah, there's just one problem left to deal with," Bleddyn remarked casually after chewing up a seed.  
"What problem?" That got Link's heart rate and his body to shoot up.  
Bleddyn rolled his eyes, flew over and did an intricate flying pattern just a bit above his bed before a sky blue sweet potato ocarina gently plopped onto his sheets. "That thing."  
"Zelda's ocarina."  
"You totally forgot you put this in your pouch, didn't you?"  
"I was distracted, okay?" Link huffed with a pout. "Not everyday your partner gets turned into a tree and you watch her return to normal."  
Bleddyn gave a shrug in response, "So, what'll you do with it?"  
"Give it back to her, of course! I'd just have to…" he paused to find the right words.  
"No, I'm _not_ gonna help you flirt with that girlie you like so much!"  
"I'm not gonna flirt, I just wanna give it back! It would just be easier if I could actually use words is all."  
"No."  
"What will it take for you to agree?"  
"Five freshly baked pumpkin pies!"  
 _'Well, the older Sheikhan_ did _say he'd give Bleddyn mini pies…'_ "Three, but they have to be small."  
"Four!"  
"Three and 2 extra bags of seeds!"  
"Ugh, fine. Just lemme finish up what I've got now, that time travel stuff was _exhausting!_ Do you know how weird it was to sense myself? It was _freaky weird!_ " Bleddyn flew back to his spot and continued his recharging.  
 _'It felt like I knew that Wolf somehow, so… I guess?'_ Link laid back down again and waited for the other to finish up. He would have jumped to transform the moment the last seed was finished off, but as it turns out dinner had just finished being made. _'Dinner, crush. Dinner, crush. Dinner, cru- do I smell sweet potato tempura? Mom, you're not making this weighted choice thing easy!'_ "Bleddyn, scratch what I said earlier, I need some food to recharge too."  
"Eh, suit yourself. As long as I get my pies, I don't care." once Link had left, Bleddyn examined the ocarina in better detail, "Well I'll be… you're looking pretty good for something that's _barely_ younger than me. Maybe it was fate to find you again?"

 _'Okay, so clean up took longer than expected, but I'm making up for lost time with haste!'_ Sheikhan Wolf was also practicing a bit of acrobatics as he made his way to Zelda's home, just a bit of a smirk on his face when he heard the reactions of those that caught a glimpse of him in action. He had to stick to sneaking as he got closer to the Castle District so that he wouldn't be caught - after all, if anyone here got their claws on him he might never leave. He paused to look in the direction of Cia's house, guilt washing over him. "Cia… I'm sorry we were too late." he took a moment to compose himself before continuing, being very careful as to not be caught by police… or worse, Impa.  
A few more roofs later and he was at the Callaghan home, trying not to freak out over seeing Zelda laying on her stomach reading a book while in her nightgown. _'You can do this, you can do this, you're Sheikhan Wolf! You've got courage! You've got guts! You've got… to hurry up before your parents realize you're not in your room. Now, how to get over there and try to draw attention to myself to her but not anyone else?'_ He looked at the area a little longer while drumming his fingers on his belt, "I've got it!" He whispered to himself.  
He took a few deep breaths as he backed up, then he ran forward into a swan dive and did a tuck and roll once he was close to the bottom, then leaped and sneaked his way to the grounds that were below Zelda's bedroom wall of a window, used a bit of wind to jump the fence then used his clawshot to lift himself up. Once at a suitable height to be seen and (hopefully) let in, he tapped the glass.  
"Brawynn, hide under the pillow," Zelda whispered to her Kwami while keeping her head low to mask the movement of her lips. Brawynn was lounging on Zelda's biggest pillow (which was out of Sheikhan's current range of view) before the small bird-like entity dove under it with a small salute of her wings. Once that was settled, the heiress rose and walked over with confusion on her features, "Hello, Mister Hero. What brings you here at this hour?" she asked after opening up one of the smaller windows that made up the whole of it. _'No seriously, why are you here? Did another Gufuu show up?'_  
"My apologies for the late arrival, but there would be serious questions if I showed up during the daytime." _'Daytime, nighttime, either way it's a MIRACLE I'm speaking full sentences!'_ "May I come in?"  
"Oh yes, of course!" Zelda opened up another, bigger window that was close to him and stepped aside to give him room. "Is something the matter?" she questioned while watching him come inside.  
"Oh, nothing to-oo much." he stammered as he almost fell through, misjudging the height of the windowsill to the floor, though he regained his senses in a rather wide stanced dance routine that ended with his back to her. Zelda looked at him, and giggled as she saw his shield.  
"I like your new shield, especially the coat of arms on it. Pray tell, what does it mean?"  
"Huh- you know, I haven't even seen what it looked li-" Sheikhan glowered as he looked at the shield. _'No pumpkin for a week. What did you do, Bleddyn?!'_  
Apparently the little imp of a Kwami decided that a plain, emerald green shield wasn't good enough and had, somehow, decorated it between when its first acquisition and today. The first thing he noticed was that the Triforce, a symbol that's been apart of Hyrule's (recorded) history since the beginning, was at the very top of it. In the center of the shield was a red heart that made his own heart sink when he noticed what was on it. It was the shape of the Miraculous of Wisdom, gold as the Triforce above it, and also seemed to have an extra shine to it compared to the rest of the item.  
 _'I will kill him for this. I don't know if Kwamis_ can _die, but I'm going to kill him.'_  
"I think it's rather lovely," Zelda smiled as she looked it over with him. He stiffened as he felt her hand on his shoulder, petting the fur on it. It both frightened _and_ relaxed him.  
"Why thank you, dear princess." _'I'm still going to give him a thrashing for this though.'_  
Zelda's cheeks started to get a bit pink on being called a dear princess, "Y-You're most welcome, Mister Hero."  
"Ah yes, that reminds me." he set his shield back with a slight smirk as he rummaged through his belt. "A little birdie told me that the Gufuu took something precious of yours. And through a harrowing passage of time, I do believe that this belongs to you." he held the ocarina out to her, a warm and fuzzy sensation in his chest on seeing her eyes light up.  
"My ocarina!" She gingerly took it from him and held it close to her chest, "Thank you so much, I thought… I thought I would never see it again!" she then threw her arms around him in a hug, being mindful of his equipment and her returned instrument. "Honestly, this is the best surprise all day, thank you." Her voice was a bit muffled by the fur her face was partially hidden in, but she didn't care. She was just so happy! She didn't expect to feel the gloved hand of the hero grasp her chin slightly. Though when she pulled away, she saw his eyes, the cool blue twisting with the bright sky in his irises that she was so enraptured in. She swallowed a bit as their gazes locked, finding that her tongue was heavy in her mouth and unable to think of anything to say to him. Not that she minded just looking at his beautiful eyes in silence, there was such a warmth and gentleness to them, she could just stare for eternity and be content in doing so. _'Don't pass out.'_ She at least thought of that much as a friendly reminder to stay strong. As she thought this mantra, she felt weak as she pulled herself closer to him, eyelids fluttering to a close, the rough feel of his lips grazed hers before they locked together.  
It was for nary a moment, but Zelda could have had thirty eternites pass by without notice. Sheikhan drew her closer as their lips wrestled for dominance, only for the wolf to let go. As Zelda opened her eyes, she saw a clamor of emotion in his. Confusion, shock, elation, joy, all bundled in an expression of awe. Another moment passed in silence before Sheikhan spoke first.  
"It…" he froze, his voice dry and panicked. "It was nothing, my princess." He stepped out of her arms and to the window. "I should go now… good night." he jumped out the window, leaving Zelda standing still, eyes wide.  
 _'Oh. My. Goddesses. He! And I! We - we kissed! He! We!'_ The rest of her thoughts became unintelligible babbling as she walked, a bit unsteadily, to her bed and laid back down in it. She grabbed her pillow against her face and squealed happily, flailing her legs on her covers.  
Brawynn came out of her hiding spot, took the ocarina to a safer place and sat atop the headboard of Zelda's bed, "I take it the return went well?"  
Her reply was another muffled squeal, and the Kwami sighed.  
 _'I swear, this girl has been enamored since that day.'_ Well, she'd be right about it.

A way's away from the scene, a short figure looked up to see another soaring through the skies, pulling several loops and hollers. The figure's eyes went wide.  
"Hmmmm? Can it truly be? Have the heroes graced this city once more?" the figure smiled and spun in place. "How fantastic~!"


	7. Relaxation

**Chapter 7: Relaxation**

Zelda had had a very busy few weeks since she began school. In addition to her schoolwork, she ended up having a lot in her horseback, archery and fencing lessons compounded together. She even had some events happening on the same day hours apart! And we can't forget her extracurricular activities in vigilantism. On this particular Friday, she was more or less a zombie as she took her place beside Nabooru in homeroom.

"Zel, you've been sleeping, right?"

"Uh-huh…" came the quiet reply.

"Your bags have bags."

"Uh-huh…"

"If I gave you an energy drink, would you speak actual sentences?"

Zelda did visibly perk up at the question.

"Hang on… be glad we're still got like ten minutes before class starts." the redhead dug through the backpack beside her and pulled out a 16 oz. bottle decorated with yellow-green sparkles trailing up the labeling. "Behold, the glory that is Majikpotion, lemon-lime flavor. Don't worry about me having to go through without it, I keep a couple bottles handy for emergencies, like how you're doing today."

Zelda eyed the small bottle with curiosity and hesitation, "Is it… safe?"

"Compared to the stuff they sell in those large cans, like Boss? Totally. Just don't down it all in one go, unless you really need the buzz, just take some sips between classes or something."

Zelda took the bottle and inspected it further. It was made out of water and a bunch of words she couldn't pronounce for the life of her, colored dye and also noted not to have more than 2 within the span of a day. "If you're sure, Nabooru… thank you."

"No prob," she gave the blonde a finger gun motion and smirked just a little bit when Zelda tasted it and found out how sour it could be if you're not use to it.

"It's… tangy!" she managed to squeak out.

"You get use to it," the redhead shrugged.

"Alright class, let's start with today's lesson!" proclaimed the teacher, eliciting at least a few groans before everything went relatively silent to start the school day. It may be because it was a Friday, but the time seemed to change between going either _painfully_ slow or rather quick. All the while, Nabooru was scheming with some of the others girls…

N: [Okay, so who's free this weekend?]

S: [I am]

Ru: [Got a swim meet on Sunday, but today's free for me]

H: [Home alone]

A: [Well, I have a morning tea party to attend with some butterflies, but my afternoon is free!]

N: [Excellent. I'll be needing everyone's help. Hey Hilda, you have a movie room, right?]

H: [Yeah, why?]

N: [Can the chairs be removed?]

H: [...Dunno]

H: [Oh no]

H: [Nabs, what do you have planned?]

N: [Nothing~]

Ru: [Panic time, she's got a plan]

S: [I'm game!]

N: [Alright then, here's the plan…]

For some reason, Zelda felt a surge of dread that would usually entail a Gufuu, but at the same time she thought of the moonlit night before, and her worry washed away.

It only came back, tenfold, after school when she noticed Nabooru standing with Hilda, Agitha, Ruto and Saria standing at the end of the hall that lead to freedom.

"Hello, everyone… why are you looking at me like that?" Zelda started to back up ever so slightly.

"Oh, no _particular_ reason…" Nabooru walked forward, her minions following the movement.

 _'Help.'_ Zelda's eyes widened as the group advanced faster and faster. "Guys, seriously, this isn't funny!" She started to fast walk away, though they kept pursuit. "Eeep!"

She continued her escape despite the looming doom of her friends when she ran into Telma, rather literally. "Oof!"

"Hey there, sweetie, what's happening?"

"Auntie! Help me!"

Nabooru stopped and motioned for the others to do the same as they watched Telma talk with Zelda.

Telma looked between Zelda and the group of girls, eyebrow raising ever so slightly in suspicion, "So, who's gonna explain first?"

"We're simply going to spend some time with Zelda," Hilda stepped forward, "she was rather out of it today and we figure she needed some time for fun."

Telma looked between Hilda and Zelda a moment, "Then how come she was acting like she was a rabbit against a bunch of wolves?"

"We kinda sprung it on her… surprise!" Saria did jazz hands with a weak smile.

"You five were going to, essentially, kidnap me due to the last few weeks of my time being extremely stressful due to various activities for the sake of my health?" Zelda paused for a moment, "I'm not all that sure how to react. On one hand, I'm very touched you all care so much, but on the other I'd have liked a heads up so I could tell Impa. Chances are she wouldn't like me going off with friends so suddenly…"

Telma thought, her eyes exchanging a look with Nabooru's for a split second, then a sly grin started to spread across her lips. "Oh don't worry, Zelda honey, I'll take care of Twiggy for ya." Cue some snickering from the group on Impa's nickname.

"Dare I ask how?" Zelda questioned with worry.

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Telma gave the blonde a gentle nudge in the direction of her friends, "you just go and have some girl time! I'll see y'all Monday, don't get into too much trouble now - especially you, Nabooru. Better go out the exit where kids gather for the buses, shouldn't be seen there."

"Yes ma'am," Nabooru chuckled at that.

"No promises from the rest of us!" Saria cheered as they all started leaving.

"I'll keep an eye out for them!" Ruto assured the teacher.

"And now… to wait on Impa," Telma let out a soft sigh before going to the school entrance. She started going over scenarios in her head over what to say, how to say it and what could be possible reactions.

"So, where _are_ we going first?" Zelda questioned as they all started to head off of school grounds.

"Getting some good ol' fashion pizza pie!" Saria proclaimed as she started to sort of run ahead of everyone else, "Getting _all_ the bell peppers on mine!"

"Oh no you don't, we're getting onion too!" Nabooru started to run after her, a small smile on her face to indicate no hard feelings.

"Chances are, if we're clever enough, we can get more than one and keep the price for them down," Ruto suggested and then added quietly, "as long as we don't get anchovies, I'm happy with whatever."

Zelda couldn't help but mentally flashback to when she heard Huut and his proclamation of how much he loved them. It made her gag just a bit that someone, albeit not human, would still eat them straight up from a can. "I could pitch in with the money?" she offered.

Everyone seemed to freeze, except for Hilda and Agitha, on hearing the heiress's statement. Even Saria and Nabooru stopped their friendly pizza topping argument chase.

"I think you broke them," Hilda muttered to Zelda.

"H-How? Why?"

"They get kinda weirded out if someone richer than them offers to help pay," Hilda explained, "trust me, I learned the hard way in middle school."

"It's a matter of pride," Nabooru explained while carrying Saria in one arm, "we may not be rich, but what we earn through whatever means is enough for us. At least until college."

Zelda gave a small nod, "I see."

"So, what kind of toppings do you like on your pizza, Zelda?" Hilda changed the subject in order to move on from the awkwardness.

"I am… unsure. We rarely get pizza at home. Our chef usually cooks high-end stuff involving special cut meats and organic vegetables."

All five girls stopped and stared at her blankly.

"You're kidding," Ruto was the first to speak.

"You've never had pizza? That's like saying ants aren't capable of lifting 5,000 times their own weight!" Agitha proclaimed.

"We're fixing this!" Saria flailed a little, "We're fixing this right now! Please tell me you've at least had soft drinks."

"Um…" the blonde shrank in a little bit on herself.

"Let's start her off caffeine-free, she's had to nurse an energy drink today," Nabooru suggested as she put Saria on her feet.

"Let's get a pizza that's got _everything_ on it!" Saria suggested, then paused as everyone but Zelda gave her a deadpan stare (Zelda was just confused), "Ya know, for Zelda."

"Except the anchovies," Ruto reminded, to which everyone agreed to.

After several minutes of travel and having to keep an eye on Zelda whenever she stopped to look at something, the group soon arrived at a pizza parlor that was roomy but had that cozy home feeling to it as well. The air was filled with the heavenly scent of cooking pizzas, pastas and baked goods, all offset by the bright, outdoorsy colors that would remind someone of walking through a village with buildings made from red bricks that still has its natural flora surrounding it.

"It smells amazing!" Zelda stated with glee.

"The bees would agree with you, if they liked pizza," Agitha giggled.

"I'll find us a booth to sit at!" Saria was off.

"Okay, so final call on pizza toppings. I know Saria wants bell peppers on hers… but we've gotta remember the topping limit here, folks. We get five at maximum, so some won't make the cut," Nabooru pulled out her phone to jot down everyone's requests.

"Pineapple and ham here!" Ruto called.

"Black olives, please," Hilda stated.

"Mushrooms for me, the caterpillars say they're divine!" Agitha clapped her hands a bit.

"And I like pepperoni and onion on mine…" Nabooru muttered to herself as she put down everyone's requests, "Hmm, we've already reached the max."

Zelda looked between all of them with worry as she noticed how very sharp-eyed they had become. What was going to be done in order to figure out what toppings stayed? As it turns out, the final choice was decided with… rock, paper, scissors. Never had Zelda seen such intensity in playing the game, especially in Nabooru. The plea for pineapple was the first to go, so Ruto looked for Saria and swapped places with her in the battle of choice. The green-haired teen fought for her choice three times due to the different colors, red and yellow falling. In the end, Nabooru decided to give up onions for this and they got a pizza with ham, mushrooms, black olives, green bell peppers and pepperoni. For now they were waiting on it with some curly fries (with Saria and Agitha using the melted cheese dip) and their drinks of choice. While waiting, chatting at the window booth, the topic was mainly about school, how classes they don't have together in one way or another are going and it also somehow switched to spottings of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf and who was the cooler of the two. It may have been gender bias, but everyone except Zelda said Athena was the coolest.

"Really, girl? You like Wolf? Why?"

"Um… no reason…" Zelda muttered.

"Does he make butterflies in your tummy?" Agitha questioned innocently.

"Wh-wha-wha-what?! No!" Zelda sputtered. "Agitha, why would you say that?"

Nabooru exchanged a glance with Ruto, who did the same with Hilda, who also exchanged a look with Saria and it was her who said it.

"You like him, don't you Zel~?" the small teen gave the one in question a toothy smirk.

As luck would have it, Zelda was saved from answering as the pizza came, brought over by a small man wearing a red and white polka-dot turban.

"Thanks!" the girls chorused as they dug in, though most eyes were on Zelda as she took her first bite. Her eyes went wide as she chewed and then let out a small squeal after she swallowed.

"This is the best food ever!"

"Woohoo!" Mission accomplished.

They continued eating their food, when Ruto saw something outside. "Hey, isn't that Link, Ravio and Darunia?"

The others looked up and muttered agreements. Across the street, Darunia was carrying Rav over his shoulder and Link was in front, the hood of his jacket catching the wind. Both were running as fast as they could.

"What are those three knuckleheads up to?" Saria shook her head with a sigh.

"...Zelda, isn't that Impa?" Hilda pointed to a figure a bit behind the boys.

"GET BACK HERE, YOU TWERPS!"

"Yes, yes it is…" Zelda sighed and worked on calling her bodyguard to at least distract her. 'Come on, pick up…'

"Hold up, Zelda," Nabooru laid her hand on her phone. "This whole thing was to get you away from your rattle-brained schedule for a while."

"But she's chasing after our friends, I've got to find out why and stop her," Zelda explained as she carefully pulled her phone back.

"Probably something Miss Telma asked to get back at them." Hilda said, looking out at them. "I don't think she got over that, do you?"

"Probably not," Ruto shrugged.

"Huh?" Zelda raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, Hilda?"

"It's best not to ask…"

 _'Crud, crud,_ crud _!'_ Link swore as he ran through the streets with his friends in tow. Why did Miss Telma send Impa after them? Better question: HOW?!  
 _Flashback_  
Link was just getting out of class and on the off chance saw Impa hovering over Miss Telma's desk. He couldn't hear them talking, but when the teacher pointed at him, the bodyguard whirled around and Link started to run by instinct, ending up outside.  
"Yo, you look like you just saw cuccos after you, what happened in there, man?" Ravio asked as he noticed Link coming over.  
"Was it Cia again?" Darunia asked with a highly disgruntled huff.  
"I would take Cia over an angry Impa."  
"Impa?"  
"THERE YOU ARE!"  
"Gentlemen, it's been an honor knowing you both. Rav, you can have my game systems. Darunia, you can gain whatever weapon inheritance my mom had for me." Link shook both their hands and then noticed Ravio was spacing out pretty badly with a panicked look on his face, "Aww man…"  
Darunia hauled his violet-clad friend over his shoulder with very little resistance, "Let's get going, brothers!"  
"Yeah!" And so they started running.  
 _End Flashback_  
 _'Sometimes I wonder if I did something in a past life that brings misfortune...'_ Link thought as he pulled Darunia into an alley after losing Impa. "We can't keep running from her all day."  
"Any ideas, man?"  
"I'd say call Zelda, but I think the girls have her."  
"What makes you say that?"  
Link pointed to the far corner of the last block passed, over at Mama Mia's Pizzeria. His two cohorts squinted to look, but it was too far away.  
"I don't get it. What's there?"  
"Nab and the girls are probably starting a girl's night over that way, and Impa is being a mother cucco."  
"How do you know?"  
Link shuddered as he remembered the days when Cia was only starting to be clingy. "Just… trust me on this, okay?"  
"So what do we do?" Ravio asked.  
Link was hesitant for a moment. "We split up. She's only after me, and I think I can take her… somehow."  
"Are you NUTS?" Ravio shrieked before clamping his hands around his mouth. Releasing them, he continued. "Dude, she's like a NINJA, how can you take her?"  
 _'Technically, that is_ way _too accurate, but I'll not say a word.'_ "She's trained me, chances are we're bound to be equal in something, right?" _'I hope.'_  
Darunia stood in silence, before placing a hand on Link's shoulder. With a stern gaze and a nod, he said, "We'll distract her until you can get some distance."  
"And how do we do that?" Ravio asked.  
"Tactics 47."  
Ravio and Link looked at Darunia, before looking at each other and nodding.

After the girls had finished up their pizza, they figured to hang out at the mall for a while since it was still rather early in the day. They didn't really do shopping per say, just stared at things, maybe played around with them (Saria and Agitha were the most guilty of this) and migrated from one place to the next. In terms of what purchases were made during their various stops, Saria got obnoxiously big sunglasses, Ruto got a scarf with bubbles on it and Hilda bought herself a bag of mint chocolates.  
"What time is it?" Ruto asked as they took a break  
"About 6," Nabooru answered after checking her phone.  
"We should probably hit the streets and get to Hilda's," Ruto suggested, "Anyone have a movie they have in mind anyway?"  
"Ugh, none of those stupid rom coms, please! Every other line makes me gag, not to mention those people act more like what dirty grade school kids think is love," Saria did the 'gag me' hand motion after her statement.  
"Oh? Even though you more or less act them out every time with Groose?" Ruto smirked.  
"YOU'RE DEAD, BUBBLES!"  
"Ladies, ladies! Please, we can be civil during a movie title choice." Nabooru held the two at arm's length. "So, rom coms are out of the question to avoid bloodshed-"  
"Thank you, Nabs."  
"Anytime, Saria. We could go for a good old adventure plot?"  
"One where the heroes ride on ladybugs?" Agitha asked with a starry-eyed look.  
"Er… we'll see, Aggi."  
"Zelda, do _you_ have anything in mind?" Hilda asked as she gave her blonde doppelganger a friendly nudge.  
"I like fantasy and adventure, we could go for that?" Zelda felt just a little taken aback at how everyone stared at her when she gave her suggestion.  
"I think that works out just fine," Nabooru nodded and forced Saria and Ruto back into their seats to keep them from tearing each other apart. "Fantasy adventure it is. Now, do we wanna go with animation or live-action?"  
They had to go through another round of rock, paper, scissors, with Zelda as the win keeper as she was fine with either. Animated won in the end, and so the gang headed to Hilda's.  
Once there, they were all greeted by a _legion_ of housecare keepers. Quite possibly two legions. Ruto, Saria and Nabooru stared slack-jawed and wide-eyed at it all while Zelda, Hilda and Agitha were unfazed.  
"Hilda… are they all secretly trained assassins or something?" Saria was the first to break the stunned silence.  
"No, Mother just likes the place to sparkle with cleanliness." Hilda explained with a straight face.  
"I think I can see my face in the tiles," Ruto commented as she stared at the floor.  
"It happens." Zelda and Hilda shrugged.  
"Always _did_ wonder how the Castle life was…" Nabooru murmured.  
"The preparations have been finished in the movie room, Miss Driscoll," one of the maids stepped forward and spoke up.  
"Thank you and everyone most kindly for doing such a short-notice task." Hilda gave her and the others a smile, then nodded and said "Dismissed."  
It was like the waters of a sea parting as the maids and butlers left the main lobby.  
"That was so _surreal_ …" Ruto muttered.  
They were met by a tall bald man with an impressive gray beard in a suit, he bowed at the waist. "Welcome home, Miss Driscoll, it's good to see you've brought company."  
"Hello, Sahasrahla," Hilda smiled at the man. "These are some friends from school. You know Agitha and Zelda," Hilda motioned to each friend as she named them, "this is Saria, Ruto and Nabooru."  
"Hello, sir," Ruto gave a friendly wave.  
"'Sup?" Saria gave a nod.  
"Greetings," Nabooru also nodded.  
"Indeed." Sahasrahla returned the nods and added at a swish of his mustache. "Have you decided on the viewing for tonight?"  
"Something within the realm of animated fantasy and adventure. We haven't decided a _specific_ title, but we'll know which one to watch when we see it and agree on it." Hilda explained.  
Sahasrahla thought for a moment, eyeing the guests. "Perhaps a modern fantasy? Miss Saria does not appear to be a fan of… how shall we say, 'sparkling magic'?"  
"Ya got that right!" Saria beamed.  
"That sounds like it'll work, thank you Sahasrahla."  
"It is no trouble, Miss Driscoll." Sahasrahla smiled. "Hmmm… ah! I think I have just the one in mind."  
"Do tell?" Hilda had a slight tilt to her head while asking.  
"An infamous thief and his friends aim to save a captured princess from a corrupt noble. It's a compelling classic, if I do say so myself."  
"What's it called?" Saria looked pretty excited to see it right then and there.  
"While it is in a franchise, it's best known as _The Castle of Cagliostro_."  
"Sounds pretty cool just from the title alone," Nabooru remarked with a smirk.  
"How soon can it be ready to view?" Hilda inquired, wanting to make sure everything would run smoothly.  
Sahasrahla bowed. "I'll have Osfala get the video from the stores."  
"There's no DVD release for it?" Ruto questioned.  
"We do have it on DVD," the dark haired heiress said. "Father just so happens to be an aficionado hoarder."  
"Oooh…" Ruto gave a slight nod.  
"So, what're we waiting for? Let's get watching!" Saria fist pumped.

 _'I have a new fear and respect for Impa now,'_ Link thought as he ducked into an alleyway and behind some garbage cans. Though he had gone through with Tactic 47, which was him and Ravio swapping hoodies, Impa was still relentless to catch who she thought was him.  
"Well, this day is going swell," Bleddyn remarked as he came out of the front pocket.  
"Yeah, it's been great," Link remarked with dry sarcasm.  
"You know when she finds out that's not you in the green, it'll only get worse from here."  
Link sighed while rubbing his face, "Yeah, I know…"  
"And that your friends are gonna get in as much trouble as you are now."  
"I know…" Link repeated with some strain.  
"And that's not even including last night's romp."  
"It was just a kiss!" Link stated quickly with some blushing. _'One with the girl I've fallen for and… her lips were so soft and smooth and - NO, DON'T GO THERE.'_ "Was Impa ever like this even before I dropped in through time? She looked like my existence was offending her when she looked me over when she was Athena."  
Bleddyn floated in front of his face, forelimbs crossed. "Completely. Bobo got under her skin a few times, and she can hold a grudge."  
"That's another thing." Link said, pointing at the Kwami. "Why is it obvious that Impa was Athena, and I can't figure out who _my_ Athena is?"  
"Because Impa stands out a little from others. The only reason no one else could figure it out was because of the magic of the Miraculous."  
"So… a glamour spell or something?"  
"Pffft. 'Glamour', good one kid."  
"Thanks?" He was confused on the humor.  
"Yes, Bleddyn. _Thank you_."  
 _'HYEH!'_ Link's mental train froze, and he and the Kwami slowly turned to the right, where a red eyed shadow loomed down at them.  
Dun, dun, dun, Impa caught up!  
"Heh… heeeeeeeey Impa, how've ya been?" Bleddyn asked with a forced smile.  
"This has _not_ been one of my better days, but other than that I'm faring well," Impa crossed her arms and looked down at the two of them.  
"You're looking good, barely a wrinkle on your face!" Bleddyn flew up and gave her a lick, not that it actually changed her stoic demeanor.  
"Thanks," then the bodyguard stared down at the teen, "Where's Zelda?"  
"For once, I have no idea," Link confessed while shrinking in on himself a bit.  
"Don't lie to me! Telma said you knew where she was!"  
"I don't, honest!" Link held up his hands in defense, "I haven't seen her since our last class today! Haven't even exchanged a text with her since lunch!" He paused and lowered his hands a little, "Why haven't you tried calling her?"  
 _'Same old Impa, still gets forgetful when hot under the collar,'_ Bleddyn thought with a smirk.  
Impa checked her phone to see that she had actually _missed_ a call from Zelda around during her initial chase of the bro trio. She checked if a voice message was left behind, only to find there was none, and just stared at her screen until it shut off.  
"Impa…?" Bleddyn gave one of her cheeks a nudge, "Impaaaa…"  
Link carefully collected the green wolf and shook his head while holding a finger up to his lips.  
Bleddyn responded with a nod and looked at the older woman with a concerned canine face.  
Impa slowly turned her phone on and dialed a number, walking away from the two of them.  
"Will she be okay?" Bleddyn asked.  
"Possibly?" Link muttered, "Seems she has _some_ idea of what she's gonna do next."  
"Either way, best to leave when she's distracted."  
Link nodded and slowly backed away until he was far enough to bolt.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Hilda questioned as they all settled into the movie room in their pajamas, courtesy of Hilda and some of her mom's old things. They also had a mini snack bar placed around them with all sorts of moviegoer goodies. She gave a hand signal to a booth above them and then the movie started going.  
"Wow, not even a minute in and we've seen them get found out," Saria sniggered a bit, then laughed on seeing the cars in shambles.  
"That escalated quickly," Nabooru muttered, "and continues to do so."  
"Look at all the fake money, flying away like butterflies!" Athiga cooed in a sing-song tone.  
"Wow, _someone's_ gonna get lung cancer," Ruto stuck her tongue out.  
Little bits of commentary were spoken on and off as the movie went on. Most of it asking how the main character wasn't dead yet from various incidents. At least Saria was having a good time with its very out there moments. Zelda couldn't help but think of Sheikhan Wolf in some scenes… oddly enough, everyone else was thinking of Link and Ravio when it came to the dynamic between Lupin III and Jigen.  
Though an interesting film with beautiful visuals, it was barely 2 hours long, so the girls decided for some video streaming until about 10, when it was time for the most dreaded of party games: truth or dare. After drawing licorice, Nabooru ended up being the first to either say a truth or do a dare, with Saria being the one to ask her.  
"So, Nabooru… truth or dare?"  
"Dare."  
"Someone's got their confident pants on tonight!" Saria gave her redheaded friend a big smile, "Put your hair in pigtails."  
"Fiiiiine. Hilda, where's the bathroom?"  
"Hang on," Hilda rose and called for a maid to come in with a hairbrush and hair holders, who quickly came and the maid even did Nabooru's hair for her.  
Saria was holding her sides from laughter.  
"You're just jealous because I can work it," remarked she with pigtails. She even took a selfie and posted it on her social media account. "Okay Ruto, your turn. Truth or dare?"  
"Dare!" Ruto proclaimed with her arms crossed.  
"Do a handstand in a bucket."  
"With or without water?"  
"Please, without," Hilda remarked.  
"Without." Ruto sighed.  
One butler later, Ruto was now doing a handstand in a bucket. How she was glad she opted for the flowy two piece and that there was enough fabric at the pants bottoms to knot up to tie them to her legs. Nabooru was sure to chronicle the endeavor and all the other dares following. Some were posted with permission, while others were kept between the girls and vowed never to be spoken of again. The only one, thus far, to break the chain was Hilda, who said she would do truth.  
"Who's the one to make your heart flutter like dragonfly wings?" Athiga asked, as she was the one who assigned a truth or dare.  
"…Is it too late to ask for a dare?"  
"Yes," voiced the other girls.  
"Oh _goddesses,_ " Hilda muttered as she gripped onto her nightgown, "fine, my crush is… R-Ravio."  
"Called it, pay up!" Ruto fist pumped.  
"You guys were taking bets!?" Hilda's face started to match her eyes, from anger or embarrassment was anyone's guess.  
"We'll have to pay you Monday, Ruto, since we left all our wallets in the changing rooms, and let's face it, we're teenagers. We're not gonna want to get up after 8. Unless it's for the bathroom, of course," Nabooru remarked with a ghost of a smirk.  
"If it helps, I didn't realize this was going on," Zelda whispered to her friend.  
"It helps a little, I guess…" Hilda pouted just a little bit.  
"Anyway," Hilda let out a sigh and turned to her blonde friend, "Truth or dare?"  
"Truth."  
"Confident one, aren't you?" Hilda raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment before speaking once more, "Do you like Sheikhan Wolf in an admiration way, or in a crush way?"  
"…It's too late to take back the truth, huh?"  
"Oh yeah," the others nodded.  
"Umm…" Zelda felt her cheeks start to heat up as her late night smooch crept around in her head. _'I am_ so _toast. Extra crispy.'_  
Zelda's roasting would have to be put on hold as the girls heard the sound of breaking dishes.  
"Not the good china!" Hilda moaned.  
"Hilda, got any weapons around?" Nabooru asked as she got to her feet.  
"Well, no… they're mostly decorative if we have any."  
"Saria, scout ahead."  
"Aye aye, Nabs!" Saria ducked down low and tip toed out to see what was going on. On her return, she looked kind of freaked out, "It's some kinda gorilla with a mechanical hand!"  
"Byrne?" Zelda, Hilda and Agitha questioned in near sync.  
"Who?" asked the other girls.  
"My secondary bodyguard and chauffeur," Zelda explained while looking rather meek.  
"You have a gorilla for a chauffeur!?" Saria was more than a little surprised.  
"He's human like the rest of us," Zelda deadpanned as she got up, "I'll go see what's going on…" _'Chances are he's just here to pick me up. It was bound to happen.'_  
She peeked through the doorway to indeed see the dark-haired burly man. He was wearing a dress shirt under a black vest and his dress pants were scuffed. She opened the door more to see Sahasrahla in similar attire, wielding a bo-staff.  
"I must admit, Byrne, it's good to see you, but I _cannot_ have you trouncing about the Driscoll home." the older man twirled the staff.  
Byrne grunted and charged forward, swinging his normal arm, only for Sahasrahla to dodge, but then the younger guard aimed his other hand up at something, and the hand actually _launched_ out to the second floor, grasping on and reeling him up, only to release at the top to send him higher and drop down claw first.  
"I don't have time for games, old man." he grunted as he hit the floor after Sahasrahla dodged the strike.  
At this point, the other girls had joined Zelda near the door, gripped with excitement at the scene playing out before them. The only two that were actually concerned, were Zelda and Hilda since they were making a mess of things, just because Impa wanted the Callaghan heiress home - despite being in a safe area not _that_ far from her actual house and is in no way in danger.  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Anjean would be disappointed at you. Action first, questions later. I would think you'd have grown from that."  
"Oh, he did _not,_ " Zelda gasped while covering her mouth a bit.  
"He _did,_ " Hilda covered her mouth with both her hands.  
"Aggi, what _are_ they implying?" Saria asked the bug enthusiast.  
"I don't really _quite_ know, but from what I do know is that Byrne worked with Sahasrahla when they were both younger and things got a bit… heated. It was a stag beetle fight in my head when I first heard about it!" Agitha explained with a worried expression.  
 _'Of course it would be,'_ Saria just nodded in response to the other's metaphor.  
Byrne snarled behind his bandana and fired his clawshot hand again, directly at Sahasrahla, only this time, the old man smacked it with his staff and the chain wrapped around it, and Byrne was pulled in, only for him to feel the impact of the staff's tip on his head.  
"You lose again, my boy."  
"Byrne!" Zelda yelled in surprise and came over, "Byrne, I'm so sorry… how bad is it? Are you bleeding?"  
"Rrrgh… I'm fine, Miss Callaghan."  
Despite his words, she was still concerned. She looked over at her friends, then to Byrne with a sigh, "Just give me a moment to say goodbye, we can leave once I've done so and changed back into my clothes."  
And since the others were within earshot, there was a sudden cry of arguments about why Zelda should stay instead of having to return home.  
"For the honor of our friendship!" Saria ducked back into the movie room for a few seconds before coming out and hitting Byrne with a few pillows.  
"Saria!" Zelda managed to dodge out of the way of the feather-stuffed doom, "Byrne, I am _so_ sorry for this. Again."  
"Right hook strikes again!" Saria cheered as she sent a few more at Byrne. She was soon joined by Nabooru and Ruto.  
Zelda moved out of the way of the nighttime projectiles, "Girls, please! He's just trying to - watch it, Ruto!"  
"Sorry!"  
"As I was saying, he's just doing his job!"  
"But this is gal's night, you've been too stressed these few weeks!" Ruto protested.  
"Except I didn't get a chance to tell my dad or caretaker, therefore _both_ are rather in the right to pull me out, due to having no prior idea of tonight!"  
That stopped the pillows and resulted in a heavy silence.  
"I do believe that we can allow dear Impa one night without your presence, Miss Zelda." Sahasrahla stated. "Though perhaps the entire weekend would be more beneficial…"  
The teenage girls all made exclamations of agreement, leaving Zelda rather surprised that they supported her so much.  
"Otherwise it'll mean more pillows!" Saria tacked on.  
"Saria, chances are that won't help…" Hilda sighed while slowly shaking her head.  
"Perhaps not… though…" the older man stroked his beard in thought. "Miss Saria, would you be interested in learning the finer arts of combat?"  
"Totally!" Saria gasped.  
"Excellent." Sahasrahla smiled. "Though it may cut into your girl time, please be ready around noon. Miss Ruto, Miss Nabooru, you are welcome to join as well. Who knows? You might be charged with the next generation of the houses."  
Zelda had the _biggest_ smile and made a happy squeaky noise, "Really?"  
"Don't sound so surprised, Miss Callaghan. Impa started at this time in her life as well, though a year prior… and if I recall, she was as tall as the young miss here." he gestured to Saria.  
All the girls tried to imagine it and started to laugh a bit. It was rather internal, not knowing what Byrne would do, but it was still an interesting image.  
"I don't see why I should pass this up, count me in," Nabooru smirked.  
"Mmm… maybe? I've gotta focus on my swimming," Ruto pondered.  
"We do have an indoor pool in the back." Hilda added.  
"I'm game!" Ruto nodded eagerly.  
A very subtle glint went unnoticed in Sahasrahla's closed eyes. "Very good. Now, I suggest you get back to your night. Byrne will relay the information to your caretaker in the morning."  
"We shall, thank you Sahasrahla," Hilda smiled and the friends resumed their party game.  
"Hey Zelda, what were you on again?" Agitha questioned as they all settled down.  
"Dare," Zelda said quickly.  
"I thought it was -"  
"It was a dare!" Zelda pursed her lips together.  
The girls looked at each other and shrugged.  
"Okay, Zelda, dare it was." Nabooru smiled. "Hilda?"  
The Driscoll heiress pondered a moment. "I dare you to…" she smiled. "Howl into the night sky and wait for a response from Sheikhan Wolf!"  
 _'I should have stuck with truth,'_ "Don't hold your breath about a response…" Zelda sighed, got to her feet, headed to the nearest window and howled into the night rather quickly once she opened it.  
"Put some soul into it!" Ruto cheered.  
 _'Really, really should have stuck with truth…'_ Zelda tried again, but a little bit louder, "I don't think this is going to work," she stated in a sing-song tone.  
"Just give him a few, you never know," Nabooru sniggered.  
"Sure, sure…" Zelda closed the window and rejoined the others.  
"So, who's next?" Ruto asked.  
"Me!" Saria pointed her thumb to herself, "Come on Zelda, hit me with a dare!"  
"As you wish," the blonde pondered for a moment, "I dare you to kiss Groose when we get back to school."  
Saria stared at her blankly for a moment before freaking out, "WHAT!?"

Link had made it home free by sunset, and had called the guys to see how they had fared.  
"She is _scary_ relentless, I honestly thought that glare of hers was gonna blow my head off!" Ravio pretty much yelled into the phone. "I'm never, _ever_ doing that again! You're my bro and I love ya, dude, but IMPA'S THE LIMIT."  
Link had to move the phone away from his ear while Ravio spoke, "Okay, okay, I get it! Geeze…" he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll… talk to you tomorrow, sound good?"  
"Yeah…" Ravio sighed, "g'night man." then hung up.  
"Right, now for Darunia…" Link worked on seeing how he was after their interesting afternoon. "Yo, everything okay on your end?"  
"Aside from a bruised collarbone and my cardio through the roof, I'm good, bro." Darunia grunted as it sounded like he was moving his injury. "Remind me to never get that lady mad at us… and Ravio to never swindle from the butch girls."  
"He did what?" Link asked while holding a blank expression on his face.  
"Tried to negotiate your safety, he's never allowed to try and save our bacon again." he sighed. "He was probably panicking since… yeah, _that_."  
"Ugh, don't remind me…"  
"Basically, he tried to say he could get something that could help her dating life if she let us go."  
"Oh goddesses, he did _not_ say those exact words." Link covered his mouth.  
"Give or take his usual pitching average…"  
"Goddess, Ravio…" Link groaned a bit and shook his head, "he wasn't _physically_ hurt from saying that, was he? At least tell me he didn't get a nerve pinch or something."  
"Like I said, bro. Cardio. I bolted out of there like my feet were on fire, I was lucky she didn't break anything."  
"I'm taking the _both_ of you out for sirloins, once I have the Rupees for it. The double portions might have to go to Ravio this time, sorry dude."  
"I'll hold you to that." Darunia said as he hung up.  
Link shut off his phone and decided to just chill on his bed for a while. "Man… the only upside was that there wasn't a Gufuu attack. I really, really hope the rest of the weekend won't be as crazy as today."  
"Eh, you know the saying about hoping," Bleddyn stated after a few pumpkin seeds.  
"Which saying?" Link questioned.  
"The one about eggs and hatching."  
"Yeah…" Link sighed and figured to do some social network browsing to take his mind off of the fact a Gufuu might show up thanks to his jinx. He couldn't help but smile at least a little bit when he saw the pictures Nabooru posted, grinning like the love sick fool he is when he saw Zelda's various reactions. _'She's too cute.'_ He figured to give a thumbs up to the whole album in hopes to be vague about the whole 'seeing Zelda being happy is too cute' thing.  
Bleddyn's ears perked up and swiveled a bit, quickly flying to the window, "Hey, someone's howling!"  
"Howling?" Link sat up and gave his Kwami a puzzled face. _'Oh the temptation to answer is strong… except I doubt Bleddyn would let me, even if it was just for this one little moment of fun.'_ He pouted and gave the status a thumbs up. "So, what _is_ that person saying, if anything, in wolf howl?"  
Bleddyn couldn't answer right away because he was laughing too hard.  
"That funny, huh?"  
"Sh-She!" Bleddyn snorted, "She h-howled about rabbits in trees and h-hunting _berries!_ " He fell back so much he started to twirl as he laughed.  
"She?" he asked… before he dared to check Nabooru's update again to find that it was _Zelda_ who was howling. _'That temptation just got twice as strong now.'_ "Hey, Bleddyn…"  
"HeeeeheeheeheeHAAAHAHA-hm?"  
"Don't you think it would be _super_ fun if she got a response?" _'Please say yes, please say yes.'_ "Nothing too long, just a quick howl."  
Bleddyn's smile was wider than a pie plate. "Normally I'd say no since it usually means a Gufuu, but this? I'll accept."  
Link jumped to his feet and nearly stumbled on his way down his loft stairs in the excitement, "Come on then! Let's get to the roof before we do this, don't wanna tip my parents off too much." _'Hopefully, they won't notice and ask either.'_  
"Keep your pants on, I'm coming!" Bleddyn flew after his charge with a mischievous grin on his face.  
Link couldn't help but give just a bit of a cackle as he made his way to the roof entrance, "Okay, ready?"  
"You bet!"  
"Bleddyn, time to howl!" Link had such a mischievous smile on his face as he stepped onto the roof as his heroic alter ego and let loose the howl that came out. He had _no_ idea what he was saying, but he was rather eager to find out what the reaction would be later. _'Sorry, Zel, but I just couldn't help myself. Though… what do I do now since I'm Sheikhan Wolf? Patrol? Howl again?'_  
It's a Friday night, his parents are probably asleep and it would be a while before his Miraculous would wear out… "Might as well try for a patrol? It's not like we're specifically restricted to Gufuus." One gust of wind to carry him up and a clawshot later, Sheikhan Wolf was on the prowl.

In the dim caverns of the Unknown, a small red creature bristling with ash looked up into the moonlit skylight peering down into the shadowed abyss. It chuckled as he dipped a blueberry into a tub of white yogurt before inhaling the fruit.  
"Oh Bleddyn, you simple minded fool. You and your bearers…" Boore looked to the shadows to see his friend resting. "Who would have thought I would have been found by the perfect candidate after all these years. My, how time flies. Regardless…" he popped a yogurt-slathered cherry in his mouth. "You will not face our ire this night, cub, consider yourself lucky."

-  
As the girls chatted the night away, there was a shock going among them as there was the sound of a wolf's howl piercing the once-calm night air.  
"He responded!?"  
"No way!"  
"He heard you, Zelda!?"  
 _'Excuse me while I die of embarrassment…'_  
"It's like they're lovers!" Agitha cooed, resulting in Zelda trying to hide herself under a few pillows to avoid making eye contact with everyone else.  
 _'We only kissed! Not that they know, or will ever know. We're not lovers!'_ Zelda groaned and figured to excuse herself to the bathroom to get some alone time. Once behind the privacy of a locked door, Brawynn finally showed up from the satchel Zelda still managed to keep on her person without anyone questioning such.  
"I'm going to have a rather long talk with Wolf's Kwami about this," the poofy bird huffed.  
"I'll talk to his chosen for you as well," Zelda let out a long sigh, sat on the toilet seat and leaned against the counter next to it.  
Brawynn landed beside her head and gave her a few pats with her wing, "Do you wish to speak to them about this now?"  
"It would be for the best, but it might take us some time. Chances are Wolfie's moved from wherever we heard his howling."  
Zelda looked around for a moment and saw that, with some careful squeezing, she could get out through the sole window within the room. "How bright is that transformation light again?"  
Brawynn examined the window as well, "It _would_ be better for you to get out to transform, your wings might hinder the exiting process."  
Zelda got up, opened it enough to poke her head out of and looked down. It was at least an 8 foot drop, "I can totally make that, right?"  
"If you're quick enough."  
"Hopefully, I am." She pushed the window up as far as it would let her and, with some difficulty getting herself to get out legs first, carefully lowered herself out. "On three. One, two, Brawynn, spread your wings!" She let go and hit the ground as Athena.  
"Right, let's get going then!" She flapped her wings and flew more closely to the ground at first, not wanting to tip off where she was, then took to the air once she was closer to the edge of the Castle District. _'Okay, so now to find Wolfie… oh! We have our Miraculous!'_ She gave the charm a poke and a squeeze, unsure of how to activate the communication quirk. "Sheikhan Wolf, come in Sheikhan Wolf. I heard you, where are you? Am I even doing this correctly? Wooooooolfiiiiiiiiie, helloooooooooooooooo?"  
{"Gyah! Heh, sorry for the spook, Athy."}  
"Is something going on? Where's the Gufuu?" Athea asked as she took a moment to perch on the corner of a hotel, the sign below lighting half of her body in bright neon orange. "And where are you?"  
{"Hmm… I think I'm in front of the big tree in Korok Woods. You know, the one with the angry face."}  
"And I'm at…" she paused to look at the sign below her, "The Lumpy Pumpk Inn. I shouldn't be too far from your current position?"  
{"I'll be right there."}  
"I can come find you, it's no trouble, really." Athena stated while starting to take flight. _'Okay, so I left the Castle District, the school is near the woods…'_ "Wolfie, why is the Gufuu near the angry tree?"  
{"Ehehehe…. I'll tell you in person."}  
"Very well, I'll be there in a few moments. Athena out," she figured to take the path the limo uses to bring her to school, then detoured to the woods. Didn't take too long to find the tree, as it was large and, even with a lack of sunlight, the face could still be made out decently. "Why is it so quiet?" she landed, pulling out her bow and carefully examining the area for any potential attacks.  
"Sheikhan? Where are you?" She called out in a whisper-yell while stepping around with extreme caution. _'The Gufuu didn't snatch him up, right? I really, really hope it's not some sort of living shadow…'_ "Wolfie, this isn't funny, where are you?" She lowered her bow and gulped, "Sheik…? You're not… dead, are you? A response would be oh so wonderful right now!"  
"HI ATHY!"  
To that, she responded with a shout of surprise and letting loose her arrow.  
"GAH!" The physical form of Sheikhan Wolf faltered as the arrow struck him. "WHY THE KNEE, MY GODDESS?!"  
YOU SURPRISED ME!"  
"BUT THE KNEE?!"  
"IT JUST HAPPENED, OKAY!?"  
"IT'S NOT OKAY! NOW I'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO GO ON MORE ADVENTURES WITH YOUUUUUU!"  
"I'M SORRY - wait a sec, you were just fine when I shot you in the back weeks prior! You're faking it, you jerk!"  
And Sheikhan just laid on the ground cackling like a loon.  
"It's not funny!" Athena huffed while crossing her arms after putting her wings back on, "I honestly thought a terrible fate befell you!"  
To this, Sheikhan sat up and chuckled. "Oh, my goddess, have some faith in your loyal beast."  
"I'll have more faith when my beast doesn't scare me in the dark," Athena grumbled as she took hold of the arrow shaft and watched it vanish. "Better?"  
"Mmmm, you're here, so that makes many things better."  
How she hoped there was enough shadow on her to hide her bright red cheeks. "S-So, what was that howl earlier all about?"  
The wolf stood up and brushed himself off with a chuckle in his voice. "Hehehe, actually, that was for someone else. I returned something precious to her and tonight I'm guessing she's with friends."  
"Ahh, I see," she turned around as if to think, when in reality she was trying to hide the love-struck smile on her face to avoid an extreme hint about who she is under the mask. "She must be having a good time, then. Pray tell, was there any sort of translation to her call, or was it all just noise?"  
"She howled about rabbits being in trees and hunting for berries."  
 _'Oh_ goddesses _, I probably came off as such a huge idiot!'_ That piece of information killed her romantic mood as she gritted her teeth for a moment before turning and speaking to him again, "Seems she needs to learn how to speak in wolfish properly, should she ever decide to beckon you like that again."  
"Perhaps I can teach you as well, my goddess."  
"I would not mind su- 'as well'? Whatever do you mean by that, Wolf?"  
Sheikhan was glad for the moon covered by clouds to hide his reddening face. "Well, teaching a goddess and the most beautiful girl around would be any incentive."  
 _'He's going to teach me how to howl… twice?'_ "I see… so I guess that means I'm only second-best in looks then?" she asked with a mock pout on her lips.  
 _'GAK!'_ Sheikhan froze in thought. If he said the wrong thing, he'd be dead. Dead by bloody arrows, dead by bodyguards, dead by raging banshees. He had to think quickly. "Um… well, you see, uh… haa… you're uh…" he stammered over his words.  
Athena only raised a brow and waited for his response. _'So, this should be interesting…'_ "I understand if no answer can be readily given since a good portion of my features are covered under a mask. Still, getting your answer would be something of interest."  
"WOMANLY!"  
Athena had to take a moment to figure out what he just said, "Explain?"  
"You're uh… more womanly than her, you carry yourself with a fairer, more untouchable air about you…" Sheikhan started to ramble a bit, all the while trying to calm his mind without images of either of the ladies in his life unleashing their wrath on him.  
Athena stared at him for a moment before covering her mouth and having a giggle fit. _'If only he knew!'_ "I thank you, dear friend, for such a compliment," she managed to speak without too much laughter breaking up her words, "Perhaps I could give you a reward for such a finely-crafted answer?"  
The wolf smiled a wary grin, hoping that he didn't botch anything and she wasn't mad.  
"Hmm, what to give a wolf as a reward?" she mused while walking towards and around him, brushing her fingertips across his shoulder armor as she thought. She got an idea and leaned in really close as if she was going to kiss him…  
 _'Oh gosh, oh geez is this really happening? Can I really be this lucky?!'_  
She stopped for a moment and whispered into his wolf ear while scratching its base, "Perhaps a trip to a little café ~?" _'Sorry, Wolfie, but we have to remain as professional as we can… when I'm Athena at least.'_  
"Arwoo?" Sheikhan made the mewling sound on instinct.  
Athena stared at him for a split second before bursting into another giggle fit, "That was such a cute noise!" After a few breaths to calm herself down, she straightened herself out and cleared her throat, "Let's see if there's a café open we can sit and chat at, maybe get something to drink and eat. It _is_ pretty late, chances are it's been awhile since either of us had dinner." _'A healthy one, at least. I've mostly had junk food.'_  
Shaking his head to disrupt any whining, he got up and took her hand gently. "If my goddess demands it, who am I to deny?"  
 _'How in the_ world _does he manage to make_ simple _words such_ sweet talk _?'_ Athena thought while fighting off a blush, "It's not a demand, my Wolfie, merely a suggestion. If you wish to go somewhere or do something else, I would be fine with such."  
"A café sounds lovely after the day I had." he twirled around Athena and twirled her until she found herself being carried in his arms again. "You lead, my goddess."  
Athena composed herself before responding, "Let's check the city first, chances are _some_ place is open this late. From here, if we go north of the school… looking building, we should get there rather quickly."  
"As you wish," and so the two were off, leaping through the night sky as he held onto her despite some protests that she could travel by her own power just fine. The duo soon came across a quirky little place that looked like it was a mix between a boat and a blimp, the sign above the door saying it was called Beedle's Bar-None Café.  
"Well, it's certainly… colorful."  
"And the lights are still on, so it would mean it's still open."  
"…Athy, how're we gonna pay for food?"  
"…Oops."  
Sheikhan stared at her, "So, the one representing _wisdom_ forgot that we have no access to funds like this."  
"Perhaps we should just… do something else," Athena suggested with a sad sigh.  
"Very well," Sheikhan turned to leave with her - still holding onto her princess style - when they both heard the door open and a very excited voice calling out to them.  
"OHHHHHHHHHH!" a slender man with dark skin and a surprisingly pink narrow nose nearly shrieked. "Athena and Sheikhan Wolf out for a midnight stroll. Please, please come in!"  
"We have no money to give for your services, sir," Athena explained as calmly as she could despite her wings being a bit fluffed out from surprise.  
"Nonsense! Come in, come in!" the man slipped to their side and ushered them both into the building.  
"Okay!" the two sounded a bit unsure, though the sensation of worry started to melt on seeing how… amusing the place was. The entrance was a daylight yellow that gleamed compared to the calming night outside. Bright red leather covered the seats at the booths and counter while the tables were a cool blue green. There was another door beside the entrance that lead out to the bow of the boat part of the café for outdoor dining.  
Athena was a bit star-struck, whenever she had to eat out (minus this afternoon) it was usually some fancy place with toned-down colors and a professional atmosphere. Her smile could light up a dark night from how big it was, "It's so fun! Come on, Sheikhan, let's get a table! You… can also put me down at this point too. Honestly, how have you managed to carry me for this long anyway?"  
"I'm a lot stronger than I look, Athy."  
"Due to the Miraculous, or are you secretly sporting a 6-pack?" she then mentally slapped herself for that sort of comment. _'AHHHH, WHY DID I ASK THAT? Changing subject, changing subject!'_ "Perhaps we should just get a table now," she added on quickly and dryly.  
"Actually, it's an 8-pack," Sheikhan whispered to her as they took a nearby booth, gently putting her on one side of the table and then setting himself on the other side.  
 _'Note to self: shut up about his strength and not ask that again! Chances are he just said that to fluster me… which worked. I'm just going to stop this cycle before we both end up doing something we regret later.'_ Athena thought while her wings were fluffed out from embarrassment.  
She was never more grateful for the man that let them in slip over to their booth with two menus in hand. "Welcome to Beedle's Bar-None Café. I'm Beedle, the owner of this establishment and your maitre'd of the night. For you two, consider this meal on the house." he did a quick bow as he handed them their menus. "Would you two like anything to drink while you choose your orders?"  
"Just some water for me, thank you, Mister Beedle," Athena said with a friendly smile.  
Sheikhan took a quick glance at the menu for drink options, "Lemonade for me, good sir."  
"ALLLRighty then, I'll let you two pick your dishes."  
"Thank you!" they both chorused as they looked over what they can select.  
 _'What's 'Holodrum cheesesteak?' and why is it in panini form? From the description here, it actually sounds rather good…'_ Athena thought as she kept her menu upright to avoid looking at a certain some-hero, who she was still trying to NOT think about due to this supposed 8-pack.  
"Ooh, beefsteak panini!" Sheikhan sounded rather excited, "with green tomato slices _and_ goat cheese!"  
" _Green_ tomatoes?" Athena peaked over her menu just a bit, "I thought if they were green it meant they weren't ripe?"  
"Sometimes," he shrugged as he explained, "but there's a kind that are green and safe to eat."  
Athena gave a small noise of confirmation and continued to stare at her menu and continue to _not_ think about what he whispered earlier.  
Again, Beedle returned at the proper moment with the water and lemonade. "Annnnd there we go!" he pulled out his notepad and pencil. "Have you decided on your order?"  
"The Holodrum cheesesteak panini for me, please."  
"The beefsteak, with all the fixings, please!"  
"RRRRRRight away!" Beedle took their menus then left them be with their drinks.  
Sheikhan took a sip before he found himself adding in some additional sugar with some nearby packets.  
"Not sweet enough for your tastes?" Athena questioned after she took a sip of water.  
"Maybe I just don't like being a sourpuss." Sheikhan twirled the straw in his drink to mix it.  
"Well, it _would_ be rather interesting to see a wolf be a disgruntled cat," Athena snickered ever so slightly. Her wolf stuck his tongue out at her. "Does it tastes better now, my friend?"  
"You wanna try it yourself to see?" Sheikhan held the glass out to her, adjusting the straw so that it faced her.  
"Very well," she put her own glass aside, leaned forward and took a sip.  
"And the verdict is…?"  
"You really _do_ like sweet things," Athena giggled a little as she sat back down.  
Sheikhan chuckled. "It always does make the dreariness of the world more bearable."  
"I'd have to agree on that," Athena gave a slight nod, "it's not easy some days. Those are the days I wish I could consume an entire container of neapolitan ice cream without regrets."  
They continued with their shared banter until Beedle returned with their respective orders in tow, both thanking him with a smile as they started eating. It got rather awkward as Athena started eating hers and the cheese ended up stretching out between her lips and her food.  
 _'Well, this is… interesting. This happened with my pizza as well, but my sandwich is thicker. This will be a little harder to fix.'_  
Sheikhan couldn't help but snort a bit at his friend's predicament.  
Athena could only respond with a slight glare, as talking with her mouth full would be rude. _'Great, now what do I do?'_ She was surprised when Sheikhan lifted his finger towards her and twisted his finger around the strand until it snapped and he ate the gooey goodness. She slowly put her sandwich down and swallowed what contents she had chewed, face becoming a brighter shade of red each time the moment replayed in her head. She figured to distract herself by drinking some of her water and pretending that didn't just happen.  
"Is something wrong, my goddess?" Sheikhan asked, his eyes half-lidded and a small smile graced his face, his pearly white teeth glimmering in the - wait what?  
 _'BRAIN! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME!?'_ "Nothing is wrong!" she managed to squeak while acting like the salt and pepper shakers nearby became the most interesting thing she's ever come across. (Well they kind of were interesting to her, she's never seen simplistic designs to them due to her upbringing)  
"Okay then…?" Sheikhan wasn't completely convinced, but figured she would open up about it in due time, at least once there were no shakers around.  
Their awkward moment was broken up when Beedle came in with two chocolate soufflés put in front of them.  
"We didn't order dessert?" Athena questioned.  
"As I said before, it's on the house tonight. Consider it a THAAAANK YOU!"  
Both had to stifle a laugh back on how enthusiastically he put it, then gave him their thanks and started eating their free desserts.  
 _'I think the house chef might have some competition,'_ Athena thought with slight amusement.  
All Sheikhan Wolf could think was _'Oh this is great! I've never had such fancy stuff before! Omnomnomnomnom!'_  
After dessert and (mostly Athena) insisting to repay his kindness by helping to clean up a bit, the two bid Beedle a fond farewell and continued their nighttime adventure.  
"So, where shall we go next?" Athena asked once they were going across rooftops.  
"Well, I'm pretty sure the lights are still going at the Wind Fish Amphitheater, perhaps an moonlight orchestra will make this night glisten even more with your presence?"  
"We shall see." Athena stated as coolly as possible while her face heated up, "Where is such a place?"  
Sheikhan chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist. Firing off the clawshot, the two were soon flying off to the Faron District.

As the two flew off, neither noticed the glowing eye from the shadows. It blinked several times before melding back into the darkness.

The Faron District is the source of most entertainment in Hyrule City's downtown, as its structure was mixing man-made marvels with Mother Nature's bounty. It was settled within a grove of evergreens, all giving slight movements with the night's wind as though subtly dancing. Though a beautiful and calming sight during the daylight hours, within the glow of the moonlight it became a much more serious and rather somber place to be.  
"I'm a bit curious now, Wolfie, _can_ you see in the dark?" Athena asked as the two made their way through the town.  
"Better than I can than normal, so there's that at least," Sheikhan explained.  
"How much farther are we to this amphitheater?" Athena questioned as she managed a jump over a roof without the use of her wings, sticking a perfect 10 on the landing.  
"Not _too_ much father, if memory serves," Sheikhan responded after doing a quick front tuck.  
"So, I must ask, what made you think to come to such a place?" Athena stopped for a moment to take a look around to see if, perhaps, there was anything familiar about the area. She followed Sheikhan to an open stadium, and she could see a clock tower in the distance. Peering closer, she saw it read 11:59.  
The wolf took a seat on one of the arcing benches and offered Athena a seat as well. She placed herself next to him, feeling slightly awkward with being in such an open place alone at night. She kept wondering why he brought her here when the clock struck 12:00. A grunting gear sounded as she looked to the stage, and nine instruments appeared from beneath by wiry automatons of some sort. A flute, a weathered cello, a strange shell, a set of bells, a standing harp, a xylophone, a large triangle, a harpsichord, and a drum set. As the flute started to play, the others joined in at perfect timing into a flowing ballad and the stadium began to glow a myriad of colors that Athena was enawed with.  
"I ended up thinking about something my grandpa said after we left Beedle's place," Sheikhan explained to her as the players went back beneath the stage, "about where he took grandma on their first date."  
Athena's face went red, smiling a bit while wondering with both joy and nervousness if this was a date or not. _'We're supposed to be professionals! So chances are this is just a hanging out thing that friends do, right? We're… friends… right?'_ With the memory of their kiss bubbling up in her thoughts, she was having quite a back-and-forth about what tonight could be considered. "S-So, any idea what the song is called?"  
He thought for a moment with a hum, "I think I was told once, but I don't recall it that well."  
"I wouldn't mind this for a wake up alarm for the mornings," Athena laughed softly, "it's more pleasant than the sounds of a buzzer."  
"I could come and visit and wake you up instead, if you like," he stated while giving her an extremely cheeky grin.  
Athena blushed pretty hard and gave him a playful shove, "Only in your dreams. We gotta keep our identities a secret, remember?"  
"Oh yeah…" he slumped a bit.  
"At least we have these sorts of moments together, that's something… right?" Athena stared up at the sky above, seeing the stars dotted above them, shining like small diamonds.  
Sheikhan leaned back, his face… melancholic, if she could put a word to it. "Yeah..."  
"And it's not like we'll _stop_ seeing each other anytime soon, Hyrule needs us both. Who knows, maybe we'll pass each other on the street one day in our civilian forms and just… know."  
"Yeah," his face brightened up a little bit at her words.  
"However…" Athena got to her feet with a stretch, "it's getting late for the both of us. Just because it's a weekend doesn't mean we can't sleep in - danger strikes at any time."  
Sheikhan Wolf got to his feet as well with a nod in agreement.  
And so the two were off through the night skies once again. When they reached the edge of the Faron District, Athena turned to him and gave her companion a quick hug.  
"Thank you, Wolfie, for tonight. It was a short time, but it was fun."  
Sheikhan hugged her back with a smile, "You're welcome, Athy. I suppose even a goddess bird can share the night's light with her beast."  
Athena giggled at that, "Indeed. But for the record, you are _not_ my beast," she pushed some of his hair out of the way to get a clearer view of his eyes, "you're my _friend._ A dear one at that." Her face was a deep shade of pink, but she didn't care.  
Sheikhan found himself blushing as well, giving her a smile and an extra tight hug in response to her words.  
Athena laughed a bit and returned the hug, though not as strongly, "Goodnight, Wolfie."  
"Goodnight, Athy! Sweet dreams!" he bowed with a flair of his hand and leaped away into the dark.  
 _'I love you, you big goofball,'_ Athena sighed softly and flew back to Hilda's, managing to get in through the window from before with some difficulty.

As the sun rose on the new day, a group of gal pals shunned it in favor of more sleep. Except for Ruto, who had to leave in order to get some practice in for her swim meet the next day. The others ended up finding out what Zelda is like without enough sleep and no coffee, which resulted in her sleeping longer than the others. She officially joined them after a few more hours and was handed an energy drink by Nabooru.  
"What happened last night? We ended up nodding off after you went to the bathroom," the redhead questioned.  
"Oh, um…" Zelda took a gulp of the drink before going on with her excuse, "I saw some pretty flowers outside and I ended up getting so distracted I forgot to say!"  
All eyes went to the party hostess.  
"Agitha's done the same when she hears a bug," Hilda sighed.  
"It's true! There's so many wonderful little visitors that come see Hilda!" Agitha clapped her hands together, "I like the visits from the fireflies in the summer the best! They're such enlightened creatures!"  
"Point taken," Saria said.  
"So, what was so interesting out there that you were out in the garden? Didn't have to do with that howl we heard, did it?" Nabooru questioned with a sly grin on her face.  
Zelda, thank the goddesses, had a strong gag reflex to avoid doing a spit take with the energy drink, "Of course not!" she didn't _like_ lying to them, but what else could she say or do?  
"Whatever you say," Nabooru shrugged, though she had a knowing gleam in her eyes.  
"So, Ruto's gotta go and practice at the school… what do we do then?" Saria pondered.  
"Can we watch?" Zelda asked.  
"Nope," Saria shook her head, "believe me, I know. Tried to talk to Groose during band practice once out in the field. Bad, _bad_ idea if you're not a parent volunteer, participant in the band or an employee of the school."  
Nabooru smirked. "Oh? And what were you going to 'talk' with Groose about?"  
"He owed me cash in a bet! Nothing else, geeze!" Saria explained quickly.  
 _'Maybe I shouldn't have made that dare to kiss him…'_ Zelda just quietly drank the Majikpotion as the girls bickered until Sahasrahla popped in to start their day.

Link groaned as the sunlight pierced his window shades like a bouncing ball of light. He could even feel the impact on his chest and the ringing in his ear… wait a second…  
"Wake up already, pup!" Bleddyn yelled as he bounced on his bearer. "That phone of yours is ringing and you better answer it or so help you -!"  
With a groan and a snarl, Link sat up and answered his phone, "This is Link. Make it quick, I've got the start of a headache coming."  
"The headache will be the _least_ of your worries when I'm through with you!" That was Impa. A very, very angry Impa.  
 _'I should write my will out now.'_ "What did I do?" he asked with a slight voice crack.  
"Get dressed and meet me at the Callaghan household. Thank your lucky stars that Zelda's out today, and if you know better you won't tell her about this meeting."  
"O-Okay!" he was met with the sound of the line being disconnected. "Bleddyn, what did I do?" he asked his Kwami in great bewilderment.  
"Hurry up and get dressed, the longer you keep her waiting the worse it'll get!" Bleddyn pushed against Link's head to prompt him. He was met by being plucked by the scruff of his neck by his chosen, being placed on the still warm pillow and then watching him run around trying to find some clothes. "Don't forget pants!"  
"I won't!" Link managed to find some casual-looking slacks and got them on before slipping a blue T-shirt over his head.  
"Shoes," Bleddyn flew down and sat on the futon.  
"Where'd I kick those things off last night?"  
"Don't you usually do that at the door when you get home?"  
"...Oh yeah. Be back in a sec!" and he was off.  
"And bring me some seeds!"  
After that was all settled and informing his dad that Impa needed him for a short training session, Link was just outside the house gates when he saw Impa was already there, leaning against the fencing with a none too friendly look upon her face. _'Yeah, should've written out that will before coming over…'_  
The moment he was within Impa's sights, he was dragged into a sizable building in the back that was their training dojo. After they both took off their shoes to cross the tatami mats, Impa held him by the shoulders and stared down hard at him. Bleddyn would have stayed to see how this would go, but the smell of a pumpkin pie elsewhere in the building distracted him and was off to eat it.  
"Care to explain last night?" her voice was low and tastefully covered in fury.  
"Bleddyn translated Zelda's howl, a-and I responded! H-He agreed to! It was just some joking around, h-honest!" Link said quickly. _'I don't even know what I said!'_  
"You think your response was a joke? I've learned what those howls mean, boy, and I _doubt_ that your howl back was a joke!"  
"What did I say that didn't come off as a joke!?" Link asked in desperation to figure out why he was in so much trouble.  
Impa stared at him for a good solid minute before speaking again, "You said 'Come and ravage me, my love' as your response."  
To this, Link's face became an inhuman shade of red and wished the ground would swallow him whole. _'I wouldn't even_ say _that to Zelda using_ actual _words!'_ he was about to yell at Bleddyn, but the distinct sound of cracking knuckles caught his ear. Impa had removed her main coat leaving her in a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The dark glare in her eyes did not mask the evil smirk that Link had come to associate with the Gufuu'd villains.  
"Now then, Link… Prepare yourself!" she yelled as she leaped at him.  
The echoes of pain and torment lasted to the day after.

One Sunday (and cheering for Ruto and her swim team) later, it was time for school once again and the gal pals were all gathered in the front of the school as they waited with Saria, who was waiting on Groose to show up. Nabooru didn't let her green-haired friend forget about the dare on Friday night, and were now waiting to see the result of it. The only one that didn't seem to quite care was Agitha, who was chatting with a little butterfly that was nearby.  
"I'm never going to live this down, ever…" Saria groaned into her hands. "Why can't I back out of this again?"  
"Truth or dare rules," Hilda explained with a droll tone.  
"Zelda, _why?_ _Why_ did you pick this one for me?"  
"It was the first thing that came to my mind," the blonde heiress smiled nervously.  
"Can't I just do something else instead?" Saria begged.  
"Them's the rules," Ruto patted her friend on the head.  
Saria just groaned more in response.  
Said groan was amplified by the bellowing brass of the tuba coming onto the scene.  
The girls reacted with surprised screams due to the sudden tuba sounds, with Saria's being the most dramatic due to her wild flailing of arms.  
"H-Hey, Groose!" Saria chuckled nervously with a smile to match, "Wh-What's up?"  
"Hm?" Groose looked down to the girl. "Oh, what's up seedling?"  
"First, _don't_ call me that! You know not to!" Saria huffed, snapping back to her usual dichotomy with her frenemy. "Secondly, I'm fine. I just need to ask a favor of you."  
"Oh?" Groose went down on his haunches so he was at eye level with her, a smirk on his face.  
Saria stared at him for half a minute before grabbing his face with her hands and giving him a big, clumsy kiss. It lasted for about 5 seconds and then she ran off with an, " _Okay thanks bye!_ " over her shoulder.

The weekend ended far too quickly in the opinion of one teenaged superhero. After Impa gave Link the training-based thrashing of a lifetime because a certain _someone_ didn't bother telling him what the howl translated to, Saturday night and the whole of Sunday was dedicated to trying to recover from that. Two nights and a day weren't enough time, and he had sore places he didn't even know existed until now. Currently, he was trudging to school and hoped that today would be more kind to him. He came just in time to see Saria, the one person he'd never expect to do anything that looked like a romantic gesture, suddenly liplock with Groose and then run off like nothing just happened. _'This is gonna be one of those weirder days, isn't it?'_  
At least there was one ray of sunshine today, as Link spotted Zelda coming over. Though there was a dull sensation of pain from doing such, he waved in greeting.  
"Hello, Link!" Zelda smiled and gave him a small hug, but on feeling him tense up she pulled back and looked him over. "Is everything okay?"  
"[Impa really pushed me on Saturday with training.]" even signing hurt to various degrees.  
"She did?" Zelda gasped a little, "Oh Link, I'm so sorry! Let's get you to the nurse's and see if she has anything to help you with the pain!" She actually took his backpack from him and put it on her own back to help. The trip was quiet so to save Link some pains, but it wasn't an awkward one.  
 _'I swear, she's the_ epitome _of fantasy princesses,'_ Link thought as he walked alongside her, the kindness of her heart easing his pain at least a little. They got a bit lost (as Zelda hadn't needed a reason to visit the nurse before), but with Link's help they saw Nurse Raine and got some OTC painkillers in his system. After that was done with, Zelda escorted him to homeroom and set his stuff by his desk.  
"The painkillers should kick in soon, but if they start to wear off she said to see her again," she stated while helping get Link's stuff out as well, "where is that book?"  
He pointed to where he had put it and, after Zelda helped him set up, managed to sign thank you to her without much pain involved.  
"You're quite welcome, Link," Zelda smiled sweetly at him.  
 _'What next, you'll kiss my hand?'_ he had to yell at the part of him that hoped for it to shut up. _'Wait… kissing… Athy used my straw last night for the lemonade… WE HAD AN INDIRECT KISS!'_ Thankfully, Zelda didn't notice his face going atomic red.  
"I better get to my own seat, take care!" she waved goodbye and headed off.  
"You've got it so baaaaaaaad," Ravio snickered as Link took his seat. He got a text message a few seconds later from Link.  
L: Like you're not into Hilda at all?  
R: …  
L: Boom  
R: Touche, good sir  
R: But be warned, I will have my vengeance!  
L: Whatever you say, Keeseman  
L: Speaking of, any news on how this weekend went with them?  
R: Hilda said Friday was fun, Saturday was a bit less fun since Ruto couldn't join and Zelda was super excited to attend her first swim meet  
L: Oh yeah! Man, would've gone but Impa THRASHED me in training this weekend…  
R: What happened man?  
 _'What kinda excuse can I give?'_ Link had to think on that, couldn't exactly say 'I told the love of my life to ravage me like some 17th century romance novel in the form of a wolf howl'.  
L: Let's just say there was a part two to Friday's little debacle  
R: Ouch  
L: I'll be fine, Nurse Raine gave me some stuff to help  
R: And your lady love was SUCH a glorious knight for you!  
L: Hardy har har, should I just edit some 'princess falls in love with a merchant' stories to star you and Hilda?  
R: …Point taken.  
Link sighed with a smile at his victory of the week… hopefully Boarova was on break this week too.  
Oh, how the fates will toil…


	8. Sorciere

**Chapter 8: Sorciere**

Time at school passed in its usual atypical manner. All was in its usual rut of classes, homework and counting down to the weekend. The only real change was that Saria seemed to either avoid Groose to the best of her ability, or overdoing their usual antics as if enforcing that they were just friends.

"Why doesn't she just tell him it was all because of a dare?" Zelda questioned while sitting with Nabooru and Agitha, watching aforementioned friend going rather over-the-top in another staring contest.

"Too proud," Nabooru shook her head, "that is to say, they're _both_ too prideful and stubborn."

"Has he said anything about it?" Agitha titled her head.

"Not exactly… I can tell he thinks about it sometimes."

"How?" both blondes asked.

"We share a few classes," Nabooru explained with an odd amount of quickness.

"Ahh," Zelda wasn't entirely convinced, but knew that trust needed to be earned over time and decided against pushing it.

The trio went into a comfortable silence for a while, which was broken when Agitha got a text message, which seriously confused Zelda as the alert-tone was the sound of cricket chirps.

"Ooo! Hilda found some honey bees! I'm going to go give them encouragement and some sugar water, be back in a few!" and she was off with a skip in her step.

Nabooru sighed. "That girl, sometimes, I swear…"

"At least she's passionate and enjoys them? It's been said that many are pretty creeped out by them," Zelda thought for a moment, "myself included. They're not bugs, but big spiders give me the creeps."

"They tend to do that with about everyone. I'm not even sure on Agitha's stand on them," Nabooru leaned her head back a bit while thinking, "I think she's not _fond_ of them, but wouldn't go out of her way to harm one. It's just how nature is with the insect world, ya know?"

"Yeah," Zelda nodded in agreement.

"Here you go, little bumble bees! Some wonderful sugar water!" Agitha cooed as she set some spoons she snagged from the cafeteria out, the bees making their way to the aforementioned contents, "You keep doing a good job of pollinating and making such luscious honey!"

Hilda on the other hand, was somewhat spacing out, her gaze transfixed on a small, blue-purple butterfly that was fluttering about. Her mind, however, was focused upon a certain purple-clad boy in her class and how she wished she could speak her feelings to him.

"Hilly?" Agitha stared at the other for a moment before poking her cheek, "Hilly-willy? Did you hear me? Hiiiiiildaaaaaa? Are you okay?"

Hilda jumped slightly, somewhat startled as she snapped out of her trance. "Huh? Oh- I'm so sorry, Aggi. I...must have gotten lost in my thoughts for a moment," she admitted, a light blush gracing her cheeks, though she attempted to mask it by averting her gaze to her phone to answer a quick text.

Agitha cocked her head to one side and gazed at her like a confused or curious child, but said nothing for the time being until the text was taken care of.

Once she had finished her response and hit 'send', she lifted her gaze back towards Agitha, her blush having subsided a bit. "S-So, you were saying about the honey bees?" she inquired, hoping she would continue to oggle over the striped insects and not question her about the contents of her little daydream.

"Hilda…" Agitha put a hand on her friend's shoulder, "are you okay? You're pretty sluggish today, even more than a real slug."

She stiffened ever so slightly at the contact, but then quickly relaxed. "I-I'm fine, Aggi. Just...a bit tired from our girls-night-out weekend," she said softly, her lips forming a small, albeit somewhat forced, smile due to her uneasiness.

"If you say so… but you have that look where you had butterflies just now. Or that you saw a butterfly, sometimes it's hard to tell when it comes to reactions to butterflies."

"...Well, I did see an actual butterfly," she stated, gesturing towards the winged, blue-purple insect she had been staring at earlier, that was now gathering nectar from a flower.

"Oh, a Blessed Butterfly!" Agitha clapped her hands together, "I wish I could join them in drinking nectar, _and_ be wrapped up in their powder too! I hear wonderful things happen when butterflies are around too, maybe something good will happen to you today, Hilly?"

"Perhaps..." she trailed off, her gaze following the butterfly as it once again fluttered about. _'Though knowing my luck, it'll have just the opposite effect...'_ she mentally sighed.

"Oh, the bees have had their fill!" Agitha noticed her little friends starting to fly away, "Bye bye, little friends! Come visit again, and soon! Such sweet lil' things, don't you think, Hilda?"

"Of course, Aggi, though...their presence still slightly unnerves me at times due their tendency to sting if they feel threatened."

"They're nicer than wasps, at least," Agitha said with a slight pout before hearing a beep go off. She pulled out her phone and saw it was a text from Ruto saying class was about to start. "Oh! Hilly, we gotta get going, homeroom's starting in a few minutes!" She gathered up the spoons, threw them in the nearest trash can and held the door open for Hilda.

"It is?" she then momentarily glanced down at her phone to see it was indeed almost time for homeroom and she quickly stood up, brushing a little dirt off herself before hurrying inside.

Agitha followed behind post haste as the door closed behind them.

-  
Class was class, eventful to some and not so much to others. Such is the life of a high-school student. Things were at least a bit interesting in that they had an oral report for tomorrow, but the good news is that they could work in pairs… assigned by the teacher. At least it would be a short report, the subject being the plants discussed thus far in class.  
"Remember, everyone, to keep the work fair between yourselves," the teacher, Owlan, said as he looked across the rows of students, "and there will be no trades or swapping of partners." He looked down at his clipboard, moved some of his white hair out of his face and started reading the names off. "Saria, you'll be working with Darunia."

The two gave a thumbs-up to each other.

"Groose, you're working with Stalworth."

Stalworth gulped just a bit as he looked over at Groose, who was significantly taller than him.

"Ruto, your partner's Nabooru. You two behave."

"We will!" the two chorused as they exchanged a grin.

"Cia, you're partnered up with Shad."

Cia grumbled about this not being fair because she couldn't be with Link. Shad had a similar reaction, but for a different reason.

"Lana, you're with Agitha."

Agitha waved to her partner, who waved back.

"Zelda, you're with Link. I'm aware of his circumstances, so as long as he does the writing I'll give him the participation grade."

"Thank you, Mister Owlan."

"And last but not least, Hilda, your partner is Ravio."

Ravio's eyes went just a bit wide on hearing this. One part of him was rather excited, the other part also wondered if her GPA might just go down in this class due to him.

Hilda merely gave a nod, attempting to hide her growing blush with her textbook and mentally hoping that she wouldn't get too distracted while they did their research.

"Remember to work diligently, they're due tomorrow," Owlan stated, then shortly after that everyone migrated to their partners. Nabooru and Ruto looked more like they were scheming for something else instead of working on the project, Saria and Darunia looked peachy, Salworth shrunk in on himself and Shad was rubbing a temple as he held back a headache. Link was being very diligent at his writing, putting down whatever Zelda pointed out and whatever additional notes she had, Lana was hearing more about bugs than plants and Ravio was… tense, to say the least. Last, but not least, Hilda was...attempting to decently write out her notes, though whenever her hand would so much as brush up against Ravio's, she would let out a small squeak and retreat into silence out of sheer nervousness.

"Uh, want me to cover the writing? N-Not that there's anything _wrong_ with you doing it, your handwriting is really pretty and all, but…. Uh… wh-where was I going with this?" _'I am so dead. I will be dead before the end of class, I just know it.'  
_  
"N-no offense taken, Ravio" she stuttered out, trying, though ultimately failing, to keep her composure.

Ravio nodded back and looked at his book, "Okay, so… this class isn't my best, but I'll do what I can. Uh, so who'd be going first anyways? For the oral portion, I mean."

"Y-you can go first if you wish.." she muttered, her cheeks heating up slightly as struggled to maintain eye contact.

"Okay," he gave her a bit of a smile, "though, if you wanna go first I don't mind either."

Hilda parted her lips to reply, but was cut-off by the sudden clatter of a chair toppling to the ground, causing her to jump slightly and avert her gaze towards the loud noise.

Owlan jumped out of his chair to see what happened and found that Groose had leaned back a little too far in his chair. The large teen looked fine, minus a few stray hairs out of place in his pompadour, which meant Stalworth was now working by himself as Groose had to run to the bathroom to fix it.

"I swear, hair trends these days…" Owlan sighed while shaking his head.

The rest of the class period went on normally, minus the fact that Hilda was looking a bit frazzled, until the school day finally came to a close with the loud ringing of the final bell. In the great exodus from today's lessons, someone had accidentally bumped into Hilda from behind and ended up knocking some of her stuff out of her hands.

The heiress stumbled slightly, a small gasp escaping her lips as her papers flew out every which direction. She instantly moved to collect them, some of them having very private things written on them that were not meant for the public eye.

The person who did the proverbial hit and run did not turn back and fix their mistake, instead someone else stepped up to the plate and helped clean up the papers due to having witnessed it. Ravio was grumbling as he tried to figure out how many papers there had been sent flying, stuffing at least a few of them in his hoodie's front pocket to allow more space in his arms. When finished, he walked over and held them out. "Sorry 'bout the mess, Hilda, but I got everything! I think."

Hilda's cheeks grew to a light red tint as she slowly accepted the papers. "I-It's alright. Th-thank you, Ravio," she said quietly, hoping he didn't see any of the little doodles on the papers that he had picked up as she slightly fiddled around with her rabbit charm.

He was either unaware or said nothing about the doodles on purpose, but was quick to pull out the papers he had put in his pocket, this time seeing one of them, "Hilda… why is there a rabbit on this paper?"

"U-uh..." she began to panic slightly until she quickly remembered her two favorite pets. "I, um...have two pet rabbits at home!" she blurted out, attempting to hide her red tomato face. "And I like to doodle them from time-to-time…?" she mentally scolded herself for such a lame excuse, but she had no other choice in the matter.

"Ohh," Ravio gave a nod of understanding, "that's pretty understandable. I like to draw birds sometimes when I'm bored," he paused and sniggered a bit, "which is pretty often in class."

"I-Is that so? W-what a coincidence.," she chuckled a bit nervously, clutching her textbook and binder a little closer to her person.

"Hilda, you okay?" Ravio arched an eyebrow while noticing her reaction, "You seem reeeeally tense…"

"I-I'm fine, Ra-" she fell dead silent as she caught sight of Cia picking up a paper that they had missed, a paper that had a _very private_ drawing on it. _'Oh goddesses no...!'_ she screamed mentally, shrinking a little.

"Whoa, what happened?" Ravio noticed her reaction again, but only started to get it when he heart the clicking of heels and a haughty laugh, "Oh _Nayru_ …"

"Wow, for someone who can have _everything_ she desires, you're pretty sad!" Cia waved the incriminating piece of paper in her hand as a means to taunt the raven-haired heiress, "And a _terrible_ drawer as well!"

"Back off, Cia…" Ravio huffed while trying to get the paper from her, only to be met - and nearly scratched - by a manicured hand.

"Or what, _rodent?_ Like _you_ can do much to me! _Ohohohoho!_ "

Hilda remained silent, her grip on her school items and rabbit charm tightening out of sheer dread.

"Come _on,_ Cia, quit it!" Ravio growled while trying to jump for it now, only to be met with failure and more of that ridiculous laugh. The laughter finally stopped with Darunia, who was making his way out, noticed the scene and took the paper from her with a swift pull.  
"Hey!" Cia hissed, but on seeing who took it from her she stood her ground.

Darunia handed the paper to Ravio, who quickly handed it to Hilda. "You have no grievances with these two, Cia, leave them be."

Cia could only stare the other down before gritting her teeth with an annoyed noise coming out before she turned to Hilda with a sneer. She walked over and whispered in a soft but harsh manner, "You know he'll never be into you. You're too high up the food chain for him to ever make it with you. What would dear _mummy_ say if she found out?" Then with a satisfied and crooked grin, she left the group.

The Driscoll Heiress stiffened, her eyes widening at Cia's words as tears began to slowly roll down her cheeks. She then turned and quickly bolted away from the group, a few audible sobs escaping her lips as she ran.

"Hilda!" Ravio ran after her, but in the sea of high school ended up losing track of her. In his frustration, he tried to text her, though ended up with many autocorrects due to how quickly his typing was, which lead to an...interesting result when he finally realized that he should have done a lot more focusing. _'Well, it might make her laugh, right?'_ he thought while rubbing at half of his face before requesting for Link to keep an eye out for her, figuring he was already outside and starting his way home.  
-

In the caves of the unknown, a fire's light was illuminating the walls of twisted paintings depicting various monsters as a figure approached the flames. Boarova grinned darkly, a sinister glint in his glowing, amber eyes as he looked over the figures. "How tragic...to be enamored with someone since childhood, only for them to never even acknowledge your presence... how cliché." he sneered, then snapped his gauntlet-covered fingers a winged humanoid melted into the sphere of darkness and landed in his outstretched hand. "Gufuu," the creature's eye blinked up at its master. "Find this girl and darken her heart…" the Gufuu bowed as it flapped its wings.

"Go, my Gufuu! And show another the bleakness of this world!"

-  
Hilda found her steps slowing as she started walking off the school grounds, staring at the sidewalk before her as her vision blurred from oncoming tears. _'It's just not fair…'_ one of her hands balled into a fist as she rubbed at her eyes, "Who gave Cia the right to say such harsh things? She's wrong! Ravio and I could… if it wasn't for..." her thoughts were interrupted as she saw a strange shadow that was getting bigger. "What in Hyr -!" she found herself staring at a Gufuu for all of a second before it collided into the right side of her face and dissolved into her skin. Her body then drooped forward like a wind up toy in need of its key, black scales forming around her eyes as a dark voice spoke to her.

 **"Greetings, young one, I sensed that you are in the middle of some heartbreak,"** Boarova stated, **"I an Boarova, and if you promise to grab me the Miraculous of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf, I can grant you the means to bring you and your beloved together for all of eternity. But only if you agree."  
**  
To this, Hilda actually needed to pause and think about. She had heard about these sorts of things happening shortly after Athena and Sheikhan Wolf first came to Hyrule, and that things didn't seem to really work out for the one possessed. However, the offer was so tempting…

 **"Well, my dear girl, what do you say?"** Boarova questioned, voice barely veiling annoyance from her hesitance.

"I say…" Hilda heard Cia's taunt echoing in her mind, gritting her teeth at the memory, "yes, I'll do it! Give me the power!"

 **"Excellent! Now, go forth, Dark Fae, and claim what should be mine!"  
**  
The black scales traveled across Hilda's body and transformed her from the inside out. Her school clothing morphed into a long, dark purple robe with flowing, full-length sleeves that were semi-translucent on the sides up to the shoulder, a red and purple feathery collar along the neckline, and a gold belt that hung around her waist with a tabard that sported a blue tear drop design with a Gufuu-Eye symbol in the middle. A purple and gold mask then formed over her face, that bore a striking resemblance to that of a Keaton, though the eye slits glowed red and her lips were left uncovered. The last thing to form was a staff that matched her purple and gold color scheme with a red and gold Gufuu-Eye shaped decoration floating at the top, giving off a purple, foreboding aura. _"Dark Fae? How droll... Call me Sorciere, and I will not let my love be challenged!"_ she declared before taking off into the city sky.

 **"Hm, Sorciere… not bad, child."** Boarova mused with a chuckle. **"I'll allow you that name, but remember you serve** ** _me._** **"**

"Tell me again why we're not home and not feeding me pumpkin seeds again?" Bleddyn asked with an annoyed sigh as he floated out from his hiding place in Link's hood to look around, "I don't think she's here anymore."

"Because Ravio's worried about Hilda," Link explained as he checked around the back of the gym building, "he said she was upset and I'm thinking that means she might become a Gufuu."

Bleddyn gave a nod, "Let's try and prevent that before -" the Kwami was cut off when a shrill cry pierced the air, followed by a couple others, "Too late."

"Great. Bleddyn, time to howl!" One flash of bright green and a somewhat echoing howl later, Sheikhan Wolf came running out to find that Sorciere was making more than just havoc around the school. He saw that some students looked like they were ready to run, but were frozen in place as though they became statues. "Aww man…" He figured to duck and hide for the moment to contact his winged partner. "Athena, are you there? Are you suited up? Athy? Come on, pick up already! Man, wish I had her cell phone number for these moments and that I could actually use my phone like this too."

 _"You know, stealth is not your strong suit."  
_  
"Yu-oh," Sheikhan looked up to see the masked face of evil giving him a cheeky smirk.

 _"You get 5 seconds."  
_  
And he was off to put a safe distance between them, only to find himself frozen in place mid-step.

 _"Time's up, cur."  
_  
 _'Great, as if Aghanim wasn't bad enough! Only bright side is that I'm not a tree…'_ Sheikhan thought while keeping a trained glare on the Gufuu circling around him with a pondering look upon her face, as he found that only his eyeballs could move.

 _"Now, let's see if you can be of some use to me!"_ Sorciere's Gufuu Eye started to change from purple to black and blue, a sphere of magic building up around the pupil when she heard Boarova's voice within her head, sounding very much less than pleased.

 **"YOU HAVE HIM RIGHT THERE, TAKE HIS MIRACULOUS! DON'T USE YOUR MAGIC ON HIM, JUST GET THAT BRACELET OFF HIM!"  
**  
Sorciere covered her ears while balancing her staff in the crook of her arm, _"Yes, my master! Of course! I won't use my magic!"_ After the yelling in her head had stopped, she started to reach for the Miraculous of Courage when both their attentions were distracted by the sounds of very loud arguing.

"Cia, get off!"

"I demand you give me your moped so I can get out of here!"

"Don't you have someone who drives you around already!?"

"He's late and I want out of here NOW!"

"By the goddesses, stop pushing me!"

"Give! Me! The! Moped! You! Rodent!"

 _'Ravio!'_ Sorciere gave a mighty leap into the air and landed a few yards away from the squabble.

 _'Oh man, Ravio get out of there man!'_ Sheikhan wanted to warn him, he really did, but the spell was still in place.

 _"Well, well, well. If it isn't Cia creating torment once more,"_ Sorciere remarked dryly as she pointed her staff at the bleach blonde.

"And who are _you_ suppose to be, some sort of costume model reject? You're some months early for any kind of fair!" Cia rolled her eyes and gave the Gufuu before her a look of extreme disgust.

Ravio's only response was to let out a strangled yelp and take cover behind his moped.

 _"The name's Sorciere,_ _sweetie, and believe me, I'm no reject!"_ Sorciere's magic charged again and fired at the fashion heiress. When the magic had finished, there was an exact duplicate of Sorciere, mask, staff and all standing where Cia had once been merely seconds ago.

Ravio screamed in fear yet again, possibly louder than beforehand.

 _"Get his Miraculous,"_ Sorciere instructed her duplicate, _"and don't delay, Boarova wants it as quickly as possible."  
_  
"Of course!" The Cia-turned-Sorciere nodded and leapt over to the frozen teenaged hero.

 _'Where's Athy when I need her!?'_

"You seem rather glum, is something going on?" Impa asked Zelda as they rode home.

"Hm? Ah, it's… Hilda."

"What would Miss Driscoll have to do with your current mood?" Impa raised an eyebrow at this explanation.

"I saw her leaving school and noticed how upset she was. I had thought to come over and talk to her, but the limo had driven up before I could do anything."

"You know how your father is about you coming home from school. He's still not happy about the 'girl's weekend' incident," Impa let out a sigh and a shake of her head.

"I know…" Zelda nodded and slumped a bit on the car door. She soon found herself sitting back up again when she felt Brawynn wriggling around.

"Brawynn, what's gotten into you?" she whispered in a slightly panicked voice. Both froze when there was the sound of a familiar howl in the distance.

Impa pushed the button for the privacy screen up, "We're good, but we have to keep our voices down."

Brawynn flew out and gave her wings a rather frantic flap, "It's Sheikhan Wolf, he's in trouble!"

"What happened?" both asked in unison.

"I'm not sure," Brawynn landed and sat on Zelda's knee, "but if he's contacting you it must be serious!"

"I have to get back, but how?" Zelda tugged on a loose strand of her hair and twirled it around in her fingers as she thought.

"I have an idea. Brawynn, you'll have to stay out of sight until we get back to the school," Impa explained.

"Of course," Brawynn gave a salute with one of her wings and flew back into her hiding place.

Impa lowered the privacy screen, then pushed another button to allow her to talk to the driver, "Byrne! Zelda forgot something important for her homework back at the school, we need to turn around and get it."

Byrne's only response was a small and slightly annoyed groan, but he did as Impa instructed and, after going through a small parking place to get themselves turned around in a legal manner, headed back to the academy. Once there, Zelda practically flew out like in a cartoon into the building to figure out if the attack had originated there.

So far, it seemed that nothing serious had happened inside. Everyone, faculty and students alike, were taking cover where they could in classrooms. She found herself pulled into one of the science labs and about freaked until she saw it was Darunia.

"I thought you left for home?" Darunia questioned with a rather serious expression.

"I forgot something here, had to come and get it before the school closed," Zelda lied while internally asking for forgiveness for the deed.  
Darunia gave a hum of consideration before concluding that she probably wasn't lying. "We're under another Gufuu attack. This has got to be the 4th one in how many weeks?"

"I'm not sure," Zelda muttered, "but I have to agree, this is a rather common place for them to happen."

Darunia was about to speak again when they both heard a faint scream.

"Ravio!"

"How can you tell?" Zelda asked.

"Years of experience Stay here, I'll try and get him out of trouble!" and with that, he was off.

 _'Sorry again, Darunia, but I can't!'_ After giving the room a once over for any ways anyone could see her, she let Brawynn out. "Brawynn, spread your wings!" One display of blue lights later, Athena bolted out and prayed she wasn't too late.

Ciaciere was so close to getting Sheikhan Wolf's Miraculous, there was just one problem…

The fact that Darunia came barreling out, a war cry loud and proud being heard, as he charged for Sorciere. She had to defend the original, after all, against this sudden attack!

 _'Go Darunia!'_ Sheikhan cheered while watching his friend charge at the Gufuu in question and tackled her. When the secondary Sorciere left to help, he then noticed a blur of blue fly out of the school.

"Look out!"

 _'Athy, you're here! Thank Nayru, it's about time. Wait, why were you inside the school?'  
_  
Darunia had managed to block Ciaciere's attack in time, but due to his split focus Sorciere had managed to break free and was charging her magic due to Ciaciere taking up the more offensive role.

Rather, she _tried_ to charge her magic. It's hard to focus when arrows are threatening to pierce one's being.

"Don't mean to be rude, but watch the moped!" Ravio commented from behind his hiding place.

"Sorry!" Athena apologized.

"I need to get out of here. I _should've_ gotten out of here the moment Sorciere popped up! Gah, how I could I have frozen up like that?" Ravio muttered to himself as he tried to move himself and his ride away from the scene as carefully as possible without getting caught. It seemed to be working thus far, but the arrows were more than disconcerting. One that came a little too close for comfort lead him to scream, which caught a certain someone's attention.

 _"I'm not about to lose you!"_ Sorciere screamed as she focused her magic and unleashed it on Darunia, turning him into another copy.

Sheikhan wanted to really, really yell and make Sorciere pay for that. It might have been the willpower being fueled by anger, but he could slowly feel himself being able to move again. It was little things and it felt like running in slow-motion, but once this was taken care of it won't matter.

 _"That ought to keep you two entertained for a while,"_ she smirked before turning her attention to a certain purple-clad young man and 'sheathing' her staff behind her back. _"Now for my beloved and I to take our leave!"_ she declared, snatching Ravio up bridal-style and flying off from the scene.

As Sorciere left, Sheikhan found himself being able to move normally, but due to that one pesky law of motion, he found himself stumbling until Athena managed to catch him and keep him steady. "Thanks, Athy."

"No problem. However, we have bigger issues…" she turned her attention to the two Sorciere duplicates, "two of them."

"You take the one on the left!" Sheikhan brandished his sword and shield and went for the one on the right, who he was pretty sure was Darunia. He trusted Athena, yes, but there was just some things he had to do himself, such as taking down his mind-controlled friend. He did find himself having to do more dodging and blocking when Daruciere started using magic against him.

Athena and Ciaciere were having a shoot-off, but as time went on there was more duck and cover routines than shooting off multiple hits, mostly on Athena's side.

"Sheikhan, I have an idea! However, this is quite a shot in the dark!"

"Do tell!" Sheikhan apologized quietly as he used his shield to hit Daruciere in the face, which helped gain an advantage.

"We have to take out the original one! In theory, if her Gufuu is extracted, then these two will be normal again!"

"It's the best we got so far!" Sheikhan did a jump to the side, did a tuck and roll that ended in a split kick and managed to stun Daruciere again. While his opponent was seeing stars, Sheikhan clicked his heels to get the Pegasus Boots on and then swiftly retreated with his goddess in his arms.

"Now, to figure out where she ran off to…"

Sorciere silently flew through the air, Ravio securely in her arms as she racked her brain on where they could hide and have some alone time together, until a certain candy shop caught her eye. _"Hmm.. How about we make a quick pit stop, shall we~?"_ she suggested, carefully landing in front of the shop. _"After all, there's nothing more romantic than a nice box of chocolates shared between lovers~,"_ she grinned, affectionately nuzzling Ravio's cheek before entering the store to get her desired chocolate.

"Okay!" he managed to squeak out as he wondered what deity out there he managed to get so mad that a Gufuu was romantically attached to him. _'Hey wait a sec, don't lovers have to… before they're actually called… NAYRU HAVE MERCY.'_ "H-Hey, um...I-I kinda need to use the bathroom, i-is there on in the store o-or nearby?"

Her grip on him instantly tightened. _"No, you are NOT leaving my side,"_ she stated harshly before turning her attention to the person behind the counter, who was currently cowering in fear. In a matter of seconds, said person was frozen in his position as she casually decided to take a box of fancy, minty chocolates.

"Dark mint?" Ravio looked the box over. _'That's weird, last I checked the only person I know who really, really likes this stuff is Hilda…'_ "Heh, y-you're really going all out here, h-huh?" he mentally cursed himself for his voice cracking a bit on the last word.

 _"Of course~! You only deserve the best, my sweet little bunny~."  
_  
Ravio gulped down and felt his cheeks grow a bit warm on the nickname, "Uh, th-thanks! Hey, uh, you're gonna unfreeze that cashier, r-right?"

 _"...He'll unfreeze soon enough. It's only a temporary thing,"_ she stated, before taking her leave from the shop with both Ravio and the chocolates in hand.

"Heh, right, g-good to know…" _'Which means Sheikhan Wolf and Athena should be around here soon enough. I hope. Don't worry, Ravio, they're heroes! They'll come and save you.'_ "S-So, where're we heading next?"

 _"To the new subway station that was recently finished. It's not currently open to the public, which would make it a PERFECT spot for us to be alone~."  
_  
 _'SHEIKHAN WOLF! ATHENA! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!?'_ "Subway? Weird, I know a gal who's connected to them… do you know her?"

 _"Hmm...I suppose you could say that,"_ she mused before taking off towards said subway station.

"'Suppose'? Sorciere, you're starting to worry me…"

 _"Worrying should be the last thing on your mind, my love,"_ she smiled somewhat warmly, _"for I promise that I shall let no harm come to you,"_ she assured him before placing a small, gentle kiss upon his head.

Ravio felt that blush from earlier creep up again while gulping, "I-If you say so!"

Sorciere smirked contently, falling silent until they reached their destination of the new subway station. _"Here we are, my sweet bunny~!"_ she stated before landing at the entrance and triumphantly walking into their 'humble abode'.

"It's uh...p-pretty clean!" Ravio chuckled anxiously while looking around, "All quiet and clean…"

 _"Of course it's clean, it's brand new and hasn't been used."_ She gently set him down on his feet. _"You may walk freely, but do not DARE try and run away from me."  
_  
"Me? Running? Psh, why would I do that? I mean, yeah I tried earlier, but there were arrows flying everywhere! I had to for self-preservation. Running away, pffft, as if!" Ravio stated quickly while trying to look as innocent as possible. _'At this point, I don't care who comes and saves me, JUST SAVE ME!'  
_  
At this, Sorciere opened the box of chocolates she bought, or rather stole, for them and offered one to him. _"Chocolate, my dearest~?"_  
"Sure!" figuring to not upset the Gufuu before him, Ravio took a piece and chewed on it, "Wow, that's some _strong_ stuff! I'd think I was eating toothpaste if I didn't know better."

She followed suit soon after, popping one of the delicious minty chocolates into her mouth and savoring its flavor.

 _'Huh, she just lets 'em melt in her mouth. Hilda does that too… is that just a common thing to do?'_ Ravio pondered as he grabbed another one and devoured it.

After moving on to her second chocolate, Sociere paused for a moment before parting her lips. _"...Ravio, do you remember the day we first met~?"_ she questioned, her lips forming a soft smile.

"Uhh…" Ravio gulped down and tried not to panic at the question, "I-I might need a reminder?"

She chuckled a bit at his forgetfulness. _"You honestly forgot after all these years? I feel like it was just yesterday that I transferred to public school after kindergarten and you made me laugh by getting paint all over your face on my first day,"_ she sighed dreamily.

 _'But that happened with…'_ his face paled as the pieces finally came all together, "H-Hilda…?"

 _"...Do not speak that name. I am Sorciere now, and I will no longer be unnoticed."_ She grimaced.

"Oh! Right, m-my apologies my lady Sorciere!" Ravio stammered. _'Hilda… oh Hilda…'  
_  
 _"We grew so close after that day, but as we grew older, we suddenly began to drift apart...and you barely even acknowledged me..."_ her smile faltered, but soon returned. _"But now everything has changed, and we can be together for eternity~."  
_  
"Eternity, r-right…" Ravio forced a grin on his face, "Uh, but eternity can't start _just_ yet. I gotta hit the bathroom. I can use those despite the place not being open, right? Uh, it has a public bathroom, r-right?"

 _"...If you REALLY must use the restroom then you may do so."_ She gestured towards the sign above a doorway that said 'Public Restroom' on it. _"But keep in mind what I said about trying to run."  
_  
"I think it's only possible to get out of subway bathrooms in _movies,_ " Ravio chuckled and walked inside with a quick word of thanks for pointing them out. Once inside, he settled inside a stall and figured out what he should do. "Goddesses above, she got possessed! What do I _do?_ I just can't _talk_ her out of this, I have _no_ way of contacting Athena or Sheikhan Wolf…" he pulled out his phone, "but maybe the police? No, no. I saw what she's capable of. It would just mean _more_ trouble. I guess… the only option is to wait this out and hope those two find me sooner rather than later…Farore, give them the speed and guidance, please. It's not just for me, they _gotta_ save Hilda too!"

"This isn't working!"

"I know, Athy!"

"On your left!"

Sheikhan jumped out of the way of another magic sphere. "How come they get to fly without much hindrance!?"

"Because Boarova is a cheater," Athena huffed.

"We gotta keep them busy somehow!"

"Maybe your Item Charge has the distraction needed?" Athena suggested.

"Kinda got my hands full…" he gave her a somewhat coy expression.

"Just do what we did a few weeks ago with the wall."

"You be careful!" Sheikhan threw her up with a grunt.

"Always!" Athena flew at the two duplicates, which left them stunned for a moment before snapping out of it and focusing their firepower onto her.  
Sheikhan used a nearby streetlamp to force himself to stop by grabbing onto it and, after being glad that his Miraculous allowed for his shoulders to remain attached to his body, put his hand into his pouch, "Item Charge!" What he pulled out was… unusual, to say the least.

It was a strange-looking rod made of a dark blue-green metal that had a glowing, bright yellow-green orb floating above it.

 _'I need to have a long, long talk about what Bleddyn pulls out of these things…'_ Sheikhan moved it slightly to the left and found that the orb follows its every movement, "So what, I just chuck the green thing somehow and hope something happens?"

"Please, _do_ try and figure out what it does soon!" Athena screamed as she narrowly avoided being hit with some magic.

On hearing the scream, Sheikhan leaped into the fray without a second thought and attacked Ciaciere with this strange object like he would a sword. It worked as a blunt weapon, sure, but he still didn't get what its purpose was. The yellow-green ball also vanished somewhere in the attack.  
"Move!" Athena yelled as she saw something materialize above the two.

Sheikhan was about to say why when it suddenly became darker above the two of them. He leapt back, as did Ciraciere (barely), to find that there was now a 2-story tall statue with an axe in its hands and the ball from earlier powering it up. "O-ho, _sweet!_ " he tested to see what this unusual summon could do, feeling Athena's glare burning into the back of his skull when he accidentally broke some streetlights and a fire hydrant with a few of those swings. Good news is that the shock waves resulted in two stunned copies.

"Let's keep going!" Athena took to the sky.

"Right!" Sheikhan Wolf pulled the rod back in thinking it would make the statue move, but instead it dematerialized into the sphere and rested back where it originally was. "Handy!" Then he ran after her while holding the rod in front of him with both hands.

"You were at the school earlier, did you happen to figure out who Boarova picked?" Athena questioned as he caught up to her.

"Possibly?" he knew it was Hilda, but had to be careful about letting her know that, "Seems that Cia girl was involved again, given how that Gufuu was talking to her."

"Oh not again…" Athena groaned softly.

"Is something the matter between you and her?" Sheikhan questioned.

"No, but she's caused three now and I'm worried Boarova might have picked up on her ability to cause such emotional duress at this point," Athena explained as she helped him turn a corner by picking him up off the ground for a short while.

"Thanks," he hit the ground running, "so we just need to figure out who then." _'But how do I tell her it's Hilda this time?'  
_  
"Wait a moment… she ran off with that Ravio boy, didn't she?" Athena gasped softly as the pieces started to come together for her now. _'Hilda! I still owe Cia tearing her a new one after what she did to Saria, looks like it's been doubled now.'  
_  
"She must have a connection with him, so we find him…"

"We find her. But where to look?"

"Well, rabbits generally live underground…I think?"

"Wait a moment! I remember hearing that the Driscoll family will be opening up a new subway station soon, perhaps she might have taken them here? And yes, they do."

"How do you know that, my goddess? Not that I doubt your wisdom, but you don't seem like a rabbit type," Sheikhan questioned as he ran up the side of a building to maintain something that looked like eye contact.

"I pick up things," she was sort of telling the truth. She knew Hilda has rabbits at home and learned some facts from her. It had come up at some point during the slumber party, Hilda explaining that the servants took care of them after dark due to her mother's insistence not to bring them inside herself.

Sheikhan Wolf thought about that response a bit. _'Well, since she has the Miraculous of Wisdom, she probably_ would _spend a lot of time learning different things in case something came up? I hope she's not reading so long she passes out, that's unhealthy.'_ "Sounds good to me. So where's this new station at, anyway?"

"I know the place, follow me!" Athena was about to go faster until she managed to narrowly avoid some magic out of pure luck, "And let's hurry!"

 _"Are you done in there YET?"_ Sorciere questioned, beginning to grow impatient as Ravio seemed to be taking his sweet time inside the bathroom.

"Yup! Sorry, didn't get enough veggies in me as of late!" he really hoped that excuse would fly as he flushed the toilet, washed his hands and exited while wiping off what he didn't get with the paper towels on his hoodie. "I'm all good now, promise."

 _"Good."_ She walked over to him with a sway in her hips and wrapped her arms around his neck, some of her fingers playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck, _"Because I've been waiting to do something I believe we'll both enjoy~."  
_  
Ravio could only make airy squeaks as his face became redder than Sorciere's eyes.

Sorciere smirked slightly, her stare lingering on him for a moment before she slowly leaned in and captured his lips with her own.

Ravio was very sure his face would never stop blushing from this incident, but oddly enough… he liked it. He hated to admit that he did, but it was surprisingly enjoyable. _'Does this count as a first kiss? She might not even remember when she's purifi - WHOA GIRL, WATCH THE HANDS.'  
_  
She continued on with the kiss, wanting to hold it as long as possible as she moved one of her hands to his hair and began to gently run her fingers through it.

 _'Dear Din, is this some sorta Gufuu magic thing? At least for her? This actually feels really nice…'_ Ravio let out a mental sigh as he relaxed into it.

"Release him n-" Athena's command was cut short when she noticed the two of them with their lips locked.

 _'Ravio… buddy… I know she's Hilda, but this is just…'_ Sheikhan stared at the two of them with rather wide eyes. "Should we just come back in like 5?" That got him a light elbowing to the side of his arm, "I'm kidding, geeze Athy…"

Sorciere immediately pulled away from the kiss, giving the two heroes a dirty look. _"How DARE you interrupt our moment?!"_ she cried angrily, 'unsheathing' her staff from her back as she protectively stood in front of Ravio.

 _'Wait a moment, how was that staying on her? She lacks any sort of weapon's harness… was her magic keeping it on her back?'_ Athena pondered as she summoned her bow.

"Easy there, we don't wanna hurt him," Sheikhan stated, "we just wanna help you, Sorciere."

"Boarova has given you an empty promise, we can help you get away from his influence," Athena added.

 **"Sorciere, stop wasting my time with your sappy lovesickness and GET ME THEIR MIRACULOUS!"** Boarova shouted angrily through his connection with Sorciere, clearly annoyed.

 _"Y-Yes, of course master!"_ she replied, quickly beginning to charge up her magic.

Athena responded with a quick shot while running to make herself harder to hit.

Sheikhan moved his Item Charge about to summon the statue.

"Sheik, wait! We're in an enclosed area!" Athena warned as she saw the orb go out and form the statue, gritting her teeth for mass destruction just from the statue reforming, only to find that it had adapted so that it wasn't breaking out of the subway platform. "Oh thank the goddesses!"

Ravio decided to avoid getting caught in a battle again and hid himself in the bathroom once more.

"We're good!" Sheikhan gave his partner a thumbs up and worked on having the statue handle Sorciere.

Sorciere leaped back slightly, distancing herself from the statue before sending a magic blast towards Athena. _"I won't let you take my dearest Ravio away from me!"_ she screamed, charging up another round of magic.

"We're _not_ taking him away, we're _trying_ to help _you!_ " Athena reminded as she dodged the attack and sent another arrow.

"Just trust us, whatever Boarova promised you, he won't keep up his end of the bargain!" Sheikhan Wolf added as he had the state swing its axe onto the ground, resulting in a strong shock wave.

"Kyaa! Sheik, be careful with those swings!" Athena had lost her balance and ended up shooting an arrow earlier than intended.

 _"Silence!"_ she screeched, about to release another magic blast until she too lost her balance from the shock wave and stumbled back a little, unable to defend herself from Athena's stray arrow, which collided with her mask and caused it to clatter to the ground.

"And I thought Aghanim's was creepy…" Sheikhan found the Gufuu, it had taken residence as Sorciere's right eye. As of right now, it was shut tightly, a sign she wasn't weakened enough yet.

"Nayru's Love," Athena whispered while turning a bit green.

 _"You'll pay for that!"_ she shouted before once again charging up a magic blast, this one seemingly bigger than the previous attack.

Athena took this moment to launch another arrow while Sorciere was charging up, nocking in another as quickly as possible t hit once more while she was vulnerable.

Sorciere cried out as the arrows met their target, her magic blast going astray and colliding with the statue, which..did no damage to it whatsoever.

"Nice job, Athena!" Sheikhan beamed as he had the statue hit Sorciere, though given power it had behind the swing, he treated it more like putting a golf ball than an actual attack in order to avoid extensive property damage.

 _"Gah!"_ Sorciere yelped, crashing into the wall behind her and leaving a faint person-shaped indent as her staff clanged down onto the ground near her person.

Sheikhan then carefully had the statute remove her from the ground and hold her in place, "I think this is finally in the bag?"

"We'll see if it is once the Gufuu eye is open," Athena got an arrow ready as she waited for such to happen.

 _"Unhand me!"_ she demanded, struggling to free herself from the statue's iron grip as the Gufuu did indeed open its eye.

Athena was extremely quick in charging up her Light Arrow spell, "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" she announced as the arrow flew to its intended target, hitting a semi-literal bull's eye.

Sorciere gave one final shriek as the Light Arrow came into contact with Gufuu, purging it from her body and causing her to slowly morph back into the now unconscious, raven-haired Driscoll Heiress.

Sheikhan had the statue put Hilda down and then had it squish the Gufuu into the ground, the axe starting to go darker in color as it absorbed some of the energy.

"Miraculous Restoration!" Athena launched another Light Arrow once the axe was removed and sighed with great relief as Sheikhan collected the Navii.

"You know what to do, good luck little fella," Sheikhan spoke to the magical being and watched the magic undo what Sorciere had done, including changing Darunia and Cia back to normal once it was done with the subway. He then knocked on the bathroom door, "It's safe now, you can come out!" the door nearly slammed his face with how quickly Ravio burst out.

"Hilda!" Ravio gathered her up in his arms, "Hilda, can you hear me? Hilda!"

Hilda slowly began to stir, her eyes fluttering open a little. "R...Ravio…?" she whispered, her memory somewhat hazy of her actions as Sorciere.

"You're okay!" Ravio held her close while holding back a panicky cry, "When I figured out it was you, I-I just didn't know what to do. I'm sorry that there wasn't some way I could've helped you."

She tensed slightly, a light blush gracing her cheeks as she gradually recalled Cia's words and how she had let herself become possessed. Her lips formed a small frown at the grim memories. "It...It should be I apologizing to you…" she said quietly, guilt washing over her from the fact that she had literally kidnapped him and... _kissed_ him against his will.

"Hey, hey, it's okay… it wasn't really you," Ravio's tone became softer as he brushed a few loose strands out of her face. "I get it, really."

At this, she felt silent for a few moments before parting her lips to reply. "I'm so sorry…" she whispered, burying her face into his shoulder as a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"He _is_ right, you weren't truly yourself," Athena sat down beside the two of them on her knees, "that's how Boarova works, he takes one sliver of negativity and makes it a deep wound he can use to control you."

"I know, but...I still shouldn't have let Cia's words get to me like that," she sighed, feeling ashamed of herself.

Now it was Sheikhan's turn; he knelt down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder, "Now, granted I don't really know who this Cia person is, but from what I can gather she can get under your skin easily. There's different ways to handle that sort of person, but you gotta figure out what works best for you that won't resort to violence." _'Mainly because she'd probably sue you if you actually hit her.'  
_  
Hilda nodded at his words. "I'll keep that in mind for the future...thank you, Sheikhan Wolf," she said softly, still somewhat blushing due to her extremely close proximity to Ravio.

Both heroes smiled at her until they heard their respective Miraculous start beeping.

"I'm afraid we must leave, but you two be careful, okay?" Athena got to her feet as she spoke.

"We will, Athena. I'll make sure she gets home okay too," Ravio nodded.

"Take care!" Sheikhan got his Pegasus Boots out again and left with Athena.

"Bye bye!" Ravio waved to the two until they were out of sight, then turned his attention back to Hilda, "Got enough energy to walk?"

"I...I think so." She carefully pushed herself up onto her feet, though ended up being a little wobbly and had to use the wall to support herself. "Or...maybe I don't have as much as I thought."

"It takes some time to get back to your usual self after being a Gufuu," Ravio explained while putting one of arms across his shoulders, "so just lean on me for a bit until you're better, okay?"

"A-alright..." she agreed, her cheeks heating up a little, though she attempted to mask it by averting her gaze to their feet.

"And away we go!" Ravio walked at a slow-ish pace so that she could keep herself steady.

Hilda smiled a bit weakly, attempting to keep her spirits up for him, though it proved difficult due to the pang of guilt in her chest. She only hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

Athena landed behind some high bushes just as her transformation released, glad for the cover as she gathered Brawynn in her hands.

"Zelda, will you be okay?" the blue Kwami asked as she noticed the troubled look upon the blonde's face.

"I'm… not sure right now, Brawynn," she confessed as a sigh came out, "I just didn't expect Cia to make a Gufuu out of Hilda. She had been so calm in the past, I didn't quite realize that Ravio was a means to poke at her."

"'Quite realize'?"

"She had told her feelings about him, and…"

"You think you might be to blame due to how close these circumstances are?"

"N… Ye…"

Brawynn floated up and gently hugged her nose, "It wasn't your fault, my lady. That is what it simply is, a coincidence. Just because they happened to be close to each other does _not_ mean you are the reason for it. Don't let such guilt cloud your thoughts and emotions, it's like a slow-acting poison."

Zelda stroked Brawynn's back while giving her a smile, "Thank you, Brawynn."

"Anything for you," Brawynn switched to hugging her cheek then went into her satchel.

Zelda took a deep breath, released it as a content sigh and got out from behind her hiding place while hoping nobody spotted her. Seems nobody did, but she did end up running into someone. "Oof!" She didn't fall, but gasped on seeing who it was, "I'm so sorry, Link!"

Link didn't fall either, but now he was confused, he was sure he saw her limo drive away earlier. "[I'm fine, are you okay? And why are you back here, I thought you left?]"

"Oh, I had to get something I left behind by accident!" Zelda explained quickly, her own hand signs being unusually fast even for sign language. _'Calm down, Zelda, he probably didn't see you in the bushes!'  
_  
Link gave her a mildly confused expression, "[What was it?]"

"Oh, it was…" _'Come on Zelda, think! I should've asked Impa before leaving!'_ "some… papers for our presentation tomorrow!"

"[Really? If you needed them, I could have sent you some copies, we're partners for it an all. I did the writing anyway since I can't do the oral part.]"

"It's fine, Link, really. I managed to find them before all that chaos started, Darunia made sure of that before he left to help Ravio," she figured to mention at least one person to confirm her story, just in case.

"[Wait, Ravio was involved?]" he knew it had happened, but also knew to play dumb about it.

"Yes, you see it started when-" she was cut off when she got a text from Impa, "Ooh. Oh dear, I've kept Impa waiting too long. I'm afraid I have to go, she's out front and has been for some time now."

"[It's okay. I'll see you tomorrow then?]"

"Of course! You take care, Link, goodbye," she gave him a quick friendly hug and departed.

Link let out a happy sigh and started walking home.

"Hey, wouldn't your parents have picked up you being gone for so long?" Bleddyn reminded as he poked his head out.

"...AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Link could really, really run when the need came.

The next school day came and went as normal, with Hilda and Ravio _miraculously_ passing their oral report in science class. Everyone was now leaving to their respective homes, save for Hilda who was sitting under the big tree in the school garden with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"I still can't believe I got Gufuu'ed…" she sighed. _'How does Ravio not hate me now..?'  
_  
"Um, hey Hilda…" speaking of, guess who managed to find her?

She shifted her gaze towards him, staying silent for the time being as she felt too guilty to respond.

Ravio took a seat behind her then pulled out a little plastic bag that was a light green, "They're not too fancy, but...they're your favorite flavor."  
"You remembered…?"

"Well yeah!" Ravio beamed at her, "I remembered from back when you had one of your birthdays in elementary school. One of the cooks had packed some into your lunch bag, right? You screamed and freaked everyone out for a while," he chortled at least a little as he remembered.

She blushed ever so slightly at the childhood memory. "Y-yes, that's true."

Ravio held the bag out to her with a hopeful grin.

Hilda gratefully accepted it, her lips forming a small smile. "Th-thank you, Ravio," she said softly before quickly opening one of the chocolates and popping it into the her mouth. She then thought for a moment before deciding to take a chance and leaned forward, giving Ravio a small peck on the lips, though she let it linger slightly longer than a peck before she pulled away.

Ravio sat there, eyes wide and face the color of an apple as he processed what just happened as his lips felt a bit tingly from the mint. Once his brain caught up to what had happened, he couldn't help but have such a big smile on his face and caught her in a glomp.

Hilda laughed a bit as she was glomped, finally feeling a little more at ease about what she had involuntarily done as Sorciere and happily returned his embrace.

Ravio made a content noise as he held her, "Figured you could use a little TLC. Being a Gufuu is… something you end up forgetting about, but it's not easy to shake off once you realize what happened."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but at least I'm starting to feel better."

"Because you had a night to sleep it off, or because of the chocolate?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"...Both, but also because of you as well," she smiled back.

That got him blushing again, "You're too kind, Hilda."

"...So, d-does this mean that we're…?" she asked a bit tentatively, hesitating to finish the question.

"I-if you wanna," he replied softly.

"I'd love to~!" she grinned before once again capturing her lips with his.

Ravio mentally cheered and pulled her closer as they kissed. _'I promise, Hilda, you won't go unnoticed ever again. You cast your spell on me long ago.'_


	9. Fyrus

**Chapter 9: Fyrus**

As the school year continued with its lessons, drama and the occasional Gufuu materializing in one form or another around the area, Hyrule itself was going through its own process of changes being made in nature. Except for a few choice trees, the leaves surrounding the city became bright with blazing autumnal colors and covered the ground with its fallen fronds. This lead to either the enjoyment of young children or the exasperation of older citizens who have forgotten what fun was. Meanwhile in the walls of Harkinian Academy, a serious competition was under way.

"Woo, go Darunia!"

"You can do this man!"

"Push him! Push him!"

These encouragements and more filled the gym as Darunia was getting very close to winning the final round that would determine who would represent their school in the wrestling play-offs in the near future. So far the members who made up the team were Gorko, Bludo, Dangoro, Amoto, Diboli, Maggon, Liggs, Golo, Gortram, Kagoron, Daruk and Yunobo. Now it was between finalists Darunia and Darbus for the last spot.

"You've gotten better since you first joined, Daru." Darbus smirked as he managed to get half a step in and pushed Darunia closer to the mat's ring. "But experience still out-does raw power."

Darunia chuckled as he lowered himself a bit, causing the other to be surprised and managed to push him forward a good few feet. "However, if you balance these aspects, then anything's possible!"

"WOO!"

"BOO-YAH!"

"COME ON DARBUS!"

"GO DARU, GO!"

Darunia had managed to move to about the middle of the mat before Darbus got his footing again and went back to trying to not be pushed back and instead push Darunia out.

"Not bad, but don't think you can pull that again, Darunia!"

"We'll see, Darbus!" Darunia shouted before giving him a hard shove, which caused Darunia to gain the upper hand as Darbus stumbled back a bit. He then smirked as he saw his final opening and moved quickly before swiftly striking Darbus out of the ring fair-and-square.

Darbus groaned as he rubbed the now sore spot on his body while the other team members cheered as he got up. "Haha! Pretty good, Darunia. I'll have to remember that one next time." He held out one of his hands to the winner.

Darunia let out a hearty laugh and shook hands with Dabus, "Hopefully, we'll spar like this again in the near future!"

"Indeed!" Darbus then exchanged a slap on the back with Darunia and everyone proceeded to clean up the gym after the official list was written up and were given instructions on where they were going to go, at what time and what to do to train until then. Once the wrestling team parted ways, Darunia texted Link and Ravio the good news… and was promptly greeted by several celebration-related GIFs from Ravio.

D: How do you ever find these things?

R: You'd be surprised what a very specifically-worded search can get you these days.

L: Seriously though, it's awesome you're gonna represent our school in the match!

D: Thanks, guys!

R: When is it, anyway?

D: In a few weeks on Saturday.

R: We'll be there!

L: Once we get instructions on where to go.

D: I'll send them to you soon, don't worry! I'll look them up when I get home and send them ASAP.

R: Works for me.

L: Will do.

R: Anyone else stuck on this chem homework?

L: A bit, why?

D: What's the question?

That went on for some time between waiting on crosswalk signals as Darunia traveled home, though sometimes he'd just let Link and Ravio go on and on for a while to take in all the colors surrounding him. Once home he got himself some rock candy sticks from the kitchen and worked on his homework while occasionally sending instructions to his friends. After some time working he paused and pulled out something from under his bed. It was a box, nothing too spectacular about the box itself; it was its contents that had meaning. He pulled out his beautiful ruby-like red geode and held it in his hands while having a serious face.

"Hey, Mom… I won that final spot in the team, I'll get to… show off my stuff and, hopefully, bring home the gold." He muttered to the geode as he moved it every now and again, watching the colors sparkle and reflect the light that would get inside. "I'm pretty nervous, but excited as well. I was hoping, could you come see it? Dad's busy with work, as usual, and it's pretty hard for Grandpop to really get anywhere these days."

He was only met with silence but moved the geode as if it was nodding.

"Great! I'll make sure you get a front row seat. I'll make you proud, Mom…" Tears went down his face as he held it closer to his chest. "I miss you." He added on in a quiet mutter while sobbing. He did calm down in time but his mood for the rest of the night was more somber. Grandpop didn't seem to notice, or if he did, had an inkling of what caused such a solemn mood and didn't push for why.

The next few days were a pattern. Wake up, breakfast, school, train, homework, dinner; sleep and repeat. The only time it had been broken was the Tuesday before the playoffs when Ravio, assisted by Link, decided to drag Darunia to an ice cream shop to celebrate, despite having _not_ actually left to participate in the competition yet.

"Dude, you need a serious break! Well, maybe serious is the wrong word here?" Ravio explained as the pseudo-doppelgangers were more or less pulling Darunia down the street of the ice cream shop.

"We barely see you outside of classes and only get a few texts a day - if we're lucky. We get you're dedicated, but come _on_ man, you gotta _breath_!" Link explained.

Darunia didn't say anything, but did start to walk at a more normal and less resistant pace so that his friends didn't have to pull him anymore. They were right, he threw himself into his work and hasn't spoken to anyone outside of his household in… how long? ' _Geeze, I don't even remember the last time I had an actual conversation…'_

"So, who wants what?" Link asked.

"Toppo Tracks for me!" Ravio announced.

"Rocky road please, brother."

"On it!" Link got their orders and returned some minutes later, his own order mint. All seemed at peace with the three, their conversations bouncing between school, life at home and Ravio attempting to be shady about what stories he got from his deals. Said storytelling ended up getting a little too cheesy film noir and was laughed off more than not. Eventually the trio did head to their respective homes.

"Bleddyn, how strong does someone's emotions have to be in order for Boarova to pick them out?" Link asked once he closed the door to his room.

The Kwami of Courage floated out with a hum of thought, "Why do ya ask?"

"Call me crazy, but I think Darunia might be his next target." Link explained while walking over to his work desk and pulled out various papers from his backpack. "He laughed and stuff, but there was just… _something_ there, lingering."

Bleddyn didn't say anything immediately as he hovered just above Link's homework. "You just might be right."

"I know you probl- what?"

"Thing is, Sheikhan Wolf just doesn't run on courage, pup. It's also about listening to your gut, it's what balances out Athena's more… thoughtful process of thinking. If you think something's up, chances are it is."

' _We just agreed on something?'_ Link sat in his chair and rolled his shoulders back. "Trust me, I've known those two for years. Darunia's our rock, but the catch is that he doesn't really let anyone else be _his_."

"So, what would come out of my mouth would be obvious then."

"If it was along the lines of 'keeping an eye on Darunia,' you'd be right."

"Yup. Now, gimme my seeds."

Link rolled his eyes and fished some out from his backpack, glad for Bleddyn picking to eat on the futon instead of right on his homework. ' _For once, I hope I'm wrong about what's going on.'_

* * *

The next few days passed in something of a blur. Link kept his eye out for any signs of a Gufuu coming down and fluttering about and had recruited Ravio, Zelda, Nabooru, Saria and Hilda to help in this task. He just left out the detail about him being a possible Gufuu target, saying instead that he thought something was up and might need some support sooner or later from friends. Saria seemed to be a bit pushy about it, but backed off when asked about whether she was trying to busy her emotions with helping others when Darunia asked how things with Groose were going. The good news is that Darunia didn't completely close himself off in his homework and training like he had beforehand, but now that his suppressed emotional turmoil was brought up, everyone could see it one way or another. It wasn't long before Zelda had the same train of thought as Link and kept an extra sharp eye out on Darunia, especially the day before the playoffs…

"I know you're concerned for the boy, but is spying on him really necessary?" Brawynn questioned as the two of them were up in a tree, Zelda with a telescope in hand. "And why a telescope?"

"Easier to tuck away," Zelda explained as she adjusted her lens. "he _seems_ okay so far…"

"Zelda…" Brawynn moved her wings much like a human would when crossing them across one's chest.

Zelda looked over at her blue companion while lowering the telescope.

"This isn't the wisest of ways to do this, so _why_ are you doing this?"

Zelda looked down at her hands and didn't say anything as her companion floated over and perched on her shoulder The two sat in silence for a short period before Zelda started putting her telescope away and making her descent.

"We'll figure something out my lady, don't worry." Brawynn encouraged while hovering beside her. She then noticed someone coming towards them and hid herself up the tree.

"Zelda… why were you up in the tree?" Darunia questioned as he exchanged glances between the heiress and the trunk.

' _I don't think I can really lie my way out of this one…'_ "I was… keeping tabs on you from a distance."

"So, spying."

"Yes." Zelda landed with a soft thud and cringed under his gaze.

Darunia gave her a soft smile and pat on the shoulder. "I understand you're worried, really, but I'm _fine_! I've been keeping something with me to help," Darunia lowered his voice. "but it would be better to not show it in the open. Remember what I mentioned to you some weeks back when you brought your ocarina?"

"Yes," Zelda gave a nod as she recalled it. "you said you have a geode that your mother gave you that she got it from her father." She paused as the realization clicked. "You've been carrying it with you? That seems rather risky."

Darunia let out a small laugh. "Sort of. I've been keeping it in my gym bag so that it's with me during practices. Luckily it doesn't retain a smell. As for the risk, let's just say I've gotten clever with using my protective gear wrapped around it."

Zelda let out a soft noise that was a cross between a snort and snicker. "Let's head inside the school then." The two headed inside and figured to do the reveal in an empty hallway, Brawynn trailing behind them as secretly as possible. What they didn't know was that someone had been following after their history tutoring when the two friends were spotted…

Once Darunia thought that the coast was clear he carefully set his bag on the ground, unzipped it and pulled out his precious, nostalgic lucky charm.

"Darunia, it's amazing! It's even better in person!" Zelda gasped in awe as she moved her head around a few times to see how the light shone off the gemstones inside.

Darunia gave her a proud smile and soft chuckle. "Your words humble me."

Zelda gave him a mildly baffled look. "I'm being serious, Darunia."

"I know, Zelda, but it's still humbling."

Zelda smiled and was about to say something when something - rather, someone - seemed to come from nowhere and snatched Darunia's geode from his hands.

"How did you get all these rubies to form inside this _hideous_ shell?" Cia questioned as she walked a few feet from them while staring at it with confusion.

"They're not rubies," Darunia deadpanned, "they're of a similar color."

"What!?" Cia's immediate response to her holding less-than-precious gems was to drop it as though it burned her.

Zelda dived forward to try and catch it but her attempt was ill-timed and slipped just past her fingers. She saw the look on Darunia's face as he saw and heard his treasure hit the ground, her own heart sinking in the process.

"Oh come on, it wasn't even _that_ great! It was just a bunch of fake rubies!" Cia scoffed and was about to turn and leave when she felt an iron grip on her shoulder.

"Cia…" Zelda said in a cold and slow tone. "It was a family heirloom. You had better apologize, _now_."

Cia actually looked pretty freaked out from how very assertive Zelda was being. "It was _just_ a stupid rock, it can be replaced!"

"But family ties _can't be_." Zelda seethed.

Darunia stepped between the two of them, gently separating Zelda's grip on Cia and acting as a barrier between the two of them. "Zelda."

"Yes?" Answered the blonde heiress in a softer tone.

Darunia looked to her and shook his head.

"But, Darunia…"

Cia was about to make a remark when she found herself recoiling at the burning gaze of Darunia, deciding not to raise his voice in this instance and let his burning gaze shut her up. "I'll be fine." He muttered as he gathered up what chunks he could, wrapped them up in his uniform to keep the pieces together, and then left without another word.

Zelda could tell that this was doing more to his emotional state than he'd ever be willing to admit. She would have verbally torn into Cia right there and then had the bleach blondie not scurried off while Zelda was distracted. ' _This… is going to end badly.'_

* * *

The soft clicking of metal-covered shoes was the only indication of someone moving through the darkness. As the clicking grew closer to the sunlight streaming above, a fire began to ignite and spread its dull crimson and orange colors across the cave walls. "Hmm… it appears my bishop is causing quite a stir for a shattered heart. However, it's not quite strong enough for me to strike just yet." He asserted, clenching his gauntlet-covered hand into a fist. "Soon I will unleash this one's fury and claim what is mine once and for all!"

* * *

Within what seemed like a quick few days, it was now the day of the playoffs. The team was either half-asleep or a little _too_ awake from either excitement or caffeine. Darunia fell a little more towards the former but excused it as meditation to help him focus; he was just trying to push down his desire to cry, complain and call Cia names. ' _Don't focus on that, just get ready for what's going on now. Don't let Cia win. Don't let her win. Don't let… her know… what she did.'_ Gritting his teeth, he shifted his gaze outside while crossing his arms, thinking the passing scenery might calm him down. He was eventually questioned about this, his face being described as very sour, and explained that he was just focusing his fighter's spirit. The excuse seemed to work but lies can only go so far.

* * *

The darkness of the unknown slowly melted away as the fires were alight once again within the cave, its owner wearing a devious grin upon his face while looking over the depictions upon the wall. "At last… the time has come to unleash the evil within this one's heart." He mused while lifting a gauntlet-covered hand towards the painting of an intricate mask silhouette that had flames spewing forth from it. The painting then slowly melted into his hand and formed an all too familiar, one-eyed creature that quickly bowed to its master and took off into the skies above. "Before long, the Miraculous of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf will be mine…!"

* * *

The Gufuu was quick to find where its target was as the bus had currently been at a red light. It flapped its wings in delight at the target staying still and charged forward, ready to hit Darunia when… the light went green and the bus started moving again. With silent fuming, the Gufuu worked on trying to catch up to the bus with fury-filled flying. This little incident happened a few more times before it just decided to wait until Darunia was out of the bus and alone.

Once the bus was at the destination, the Harkinian Academy team filed out with excited cheers and light chatter about what everyone would do to celebrate. Darunia put up his best face for his team and cheered and chatted along with them, but the subdued emotional dejection lingered on and kept the Gufuu in its sight. It was forgotten for a while when he saw how big the gym they were all going to fight in was, along with all the other teams already on the mats.

"Are you guys seeing this?"

"Oh man, I'd hate to fight that big guy over there…"

"None of us are in his weight class, so I think we're good?"

"Yo, Coach is calling us over, let's get going!" And so the group headed to the locker rooms.

While they were doing that, the students of Harkinian Academy and their parents filed in to get their places claimed and to size up the competition. Everything seemed to go normally so far, but the nearly identical look of worry Link and Ravio had indicated something else.

"He can do this, right?" Ravio questioned while tapping a foot rapidly in anxiety.

Link didn't respond, he just had a far away look on his face as he tried to figure out if Darunia had somehow managed to actually overcome his emotional issues or just made it worse by ignoring it. The fact the geode broke so close to the playoffs wasn't helping either, he just knew it. He couldn't see any signs of a Gufuu, so did Darunia manage to do something to -

"Linky dear!" Cia's arms were around him in an instant.

Link let out a groan and looked at her, "Cia? I thought you weren't into sports."

"Where you go I go, darling~."

' _I'd like to throw my saving roll now, please!'_ Link thought as he tried to ignore her tightening grip.

"Uh, dude?" Ravio lightly tugged on one of Link's sideburns and pointed to the left of where they were sitting.

"Hmm?" Link followed Ravio's finger and saw that Zelda had come. ' _This is both a blessing and a curse?'_

"What's _she_ doing here?" Cia hissed.

"Being a good friend." Ravio explained in a deadpan tone. ' _You should try it sometime with Lana.'_

" _Her?_ Friends with that talking rock?" Cia rolled her eyes, "As _if_ , not after what happened with those fake rubies."

Link _would_ have remarked that the geode breaking was _Cia's_ fault but his voice was lost to him once again. So instead he mouthed a few things and, surprisingly, Ravio started cackling.

"What? What's so funny?" Cia huffed.

Ravio snickered before zipping his lips and saving Link from Cia's grasp, which had faltered due to her confusion.

"Hmm, what's going on here?" Zelda asked as she saw Ravio pull Link away and Cia's befuddled face.

"Hello, Zelda!" Ravio smiled at her. "Just showing off a trick, nothing to worry about. Anyway, how's your first time going to a wrestling playoff going so far?"

"Impa had to sneak me in to avoid extensive problems with being spotted, but other then that it's going okay." ' _So far, at least…'_ Zelda was still worried Darunia could be possessed.

"She's good at coming up from seemingly nowhere and scaring the ever-living daylights outta someone." Ravio shuddered a bit as he remembered the little incident with Link nodding in agreement.

"She is." Zelda chuckled softly, But she means well, honest."

"What am _I_ , chopped liver?" Cia spat.

"Hello, Cia." Zelda turned her attention to the other. "I'm rather surprised you would attend."

"As _if_ I'm here for that talking rock!" Cia pointed her nose into the air. "I'm only here to be with my beloved!"

' _Why can't you take a hint?'_ Both teen heroes thought.

"Perhaps _you_ should go, given how you put my dear Link through the stress of being unable to talk." Cia suggested in a not so subtle manner.

' _I'd rather be silent and enjoy Zelda's company.'_ Link thought with a sour look.

"See? He agrees with me!" Cia remarked with a bright smile.

"I don't think he's agreeing with you…" Zelda sighed.

* * *

Darunia silently sat on one of the benches in the locker room, waiting for all of his fellow wrestlers to exit the area before carefully taking out the shattered remnants of his precious geode. "Here we are, Mom. I know this isn't the best of views, but… you're here with me, and that's the important thing." He forced a smile as his voice wavered and tears blurred his vision. ' _I just wish… Cia hadn't messed everything up…'_

It was at this point that the sound of a solid object hitting a flat surface could be heard, along with what could be best described as livid squeals.

"What was that?" Darunia whispered as he carefully set down the remnants and slowly walked around the area to see what had caused the noise. When he saw the Gufuu laying on the ground, a spiral in its eye, there was a mix of curiosity and caution as he examined this strange being and carefully gathered it up in his hands.

The Gufuu's vision was very foggy and unstable, the form of Darunia looking more like a tanned blob than anything else. If it could speak, it would be cursing up a storm about the pain and all the effort put into today's possession.

"What _is_ this?" Darunia questioned while tentatively moving the winged blob in his hands to get a better look at it.

The Gufuu started to flap its wings as its vision cleared, earning a startled yelp from Darunia, and on finally seeing the intended target, dive bombed like a hawk into his head.

Darunia tried to run away but ended up tripping and landing on his back, groan in pain as black scales started to form around his eyes.

" **We speak at last, child. I am Boarova."** An ominous voice stated. " **It has come to my attention that a precious heirloom of yours has been broken… I can grant you the power to seek revenge on the one who has wronged you,** _ **if**_ **you agree to bring me the Miraculous of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf."**

"No, I shouldn't…" Darunia muttered, but a small voice in his head disagreed. ' _You know you want to.'_ The voice said. ' _She's been making you miserable for years. It's time for her karma backlash.'_ "It would be dishonorable to attack someone unarmed." ' _She's lashed out at you for years, slowly cutting away at your emotions. How is that not an attack against you? Against your family? Against the last remaining memory of your mother…'_

That was the last straw. Darunia slowly sat up as he gritted his teeth and an uncharacteristically horrific and villainous smile split his face, "I'll do it!"

" **Excellent. Go forth, Fyrus, and unleash your vengeance on those who betrayed you!"** He proclaimed, finishing up with a exulting laugh of victory.

The black scales traveled down Darunia's body as he got up, his form morphing into what could be best described as bestial. The floor beneath him started to crack and, surprisingly, become lit with flames as a mask that covered all but his mouth materialized upon his face with fire trailing out as though it was hair. His eyes glowed an unsettling and eerie blue as his transformation was complete. With an ear-splitting roar that shook all the lockers and benches, he charged out to seek his revenge against the one who broke his sole connection to his mother.

* * *

"What was that!?" Ravio proclaimed as their somewhat peaceful wait for their school's team to come out was disturbed by the sound of a primal roaring.

' _Darunia!?'_ Link and Zelda knew what was up, but how to get away? Especially with Cia holding Link's arm, her grip getting even tighter due to Fyrus' cry.

As Fyrus came out, flames following and flying from his footsteps, chaos broke out very, very quickly. People were screaming, dodging, ducking behind whatever they could and running towards anything that was considered an exit. It was all in vain as the rather sentient flames that Fyrus created were quick to melt doors and windows shut.

"Where can we even go in all this chaos!?" Cia held onto Link's torso now, much to his chagrin.

' _Come on, Zelda, you're not suited up but you can still use your head!'_ The blonde heiress surveyed the area to find anything that could help them somehow, even just blocking the fires would be more than helpful. That's when her gaze settled on the fire extinguisher on the wall opposite of where the group was. "Guys, I have an idea how to take out the fires!"

"Do tell!" Ravio flailed as he ducked his head to avoid being charred.

"The fire extinguisher!" Zelda explained as she motioned to it. "We just need to grab it and we can at least put these Podoboo-like things out!"

"Sounds good." Ravio stated as he straightened himself out. "But the problem comes from the fact that it's _all the way over there!_ " He screeched while motioning to the aforementioned extinguisher.

"We don't exactly have any other opt - wait, shouldn't there be sprinklers in here too?" Zelda glanced up at the ceiling to make sure. As it turns out there weren't any sprinklers. Perhaps they were too expensive to install, but she made a note to see if that could be changed with a little nudge from her father.

"Not all gyms do, which is _really_ bad in this case!" Ravio explained with anxiety obvious in his tone.

Link finally managed to get out of Cia's suffocating grip, mouthed something to Ravio and then sped off after the extinguisher.

"Link, what're you doing!?" Zelda and Cia screamed in near unison, only to be dragged away by the violet-clad rabbit boy.

"Get your hands _off_ of me, you rodent!" Cia tried to swat at him.

"Link said I gotta get you two someplace safe, so _please_ don't make me regret doing this Cia!" Ravio huffed as he sped up the walking pace.

"He's taking on the fires himself!?" Zelda felt her heart drop. ' _I have_ _to transform before it's too late! Chances are Ravio won't let me out of his sight… what do I do?'_ She was silent for a few moments, pondering her thoughts until an idea came to her. It wasn't a great one, but it was worth a shot. "Um...I..need to use the ladies' room. D-Do you mind if I try and search for one that's not...melted?" she questioned, hoping Ravio would take the bait.

Ravio hesitated in responding before letting out a sigh, "I said I'd get you someplace safe, so that means you're being escorted to the bathroom… right after I take care of her!' Ravio noticed that a janitor's closet still seemed intact and shoved Cia in there, "We'll be back in a few~!" And hastily closed the door before a rebuttal could be launched, sighing in relief afterwards. "Okay, let's find that bathroom now!"

"Thank you, Ravio." Zelda managed to put on her most convincing fake smile and fast walked with him around to find the bathroom. ' _Now, how to get him to leave so I can transform…'_ Her ideas as to how were interrupted with the sound of something crumbling above them.

"Look out!" Ravio pushed Zelda out of the way of falling, flaming ceiling tiles and managed to jump back in time as well, though now they were separated.

Zelda ended up falling to the ground due to the sudden push, quickly got to her feet. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah! I'm good!" Ravio coughed a bit. "Don't think I can safely get over that stuff now though."

"Hurry back to Cia, I'll be okay! I'll figure something out!" Zelda instructed.

"Are you nuts!?" Ravio screeched. "No _way_ I'm gonna leave you to wander around yourself in some vain hope you'll get out okay!"

Zelda thought she heard more crumbling. "We don't have a choice, just hurry up! I promise I'll be okay!"

Ravio made a noise between a whine and a groan. ' _Link's gonna be beyond_ _not happy when he hears about this!'_ "If you're sure… but remember, this was your idea!"

"I am, and I will!" And with that the two ran off, Zelda to find a place to transform and Ravio to check up on Cia, who had more than an earful to give Ravio about forcefully shoving her into the closet.

"Brawynn, spread your wings!" Blue lights filled a vacant office for a few seconds before Athena burst through the door. ' _Hang on just a little longer Link!'_

* * *

Back with Link, things weren't going over too well. Not only was Bleddyn squirming around in his hood _not_ helping, which was even more awkward when he had to take it off and tie it around his waist to keep cool, but even outside of his Miraculous persona he could tell that the air was getting less and less breathable thanks to the smoke. The only bright side to all of this was that Fyrus wasn't directly attacking anyone here, if anything it was more like supervising. ' _Guess Darunia's still in there with some control?'_ He managed to put out a fire that nearly made contact with him. ' _Only some!'_

"WHERE IS SHE?" Fyrus asked, voice booming like a hardened warrior or powerful noble of old.

' _And I thought Thu'um was loud…'_ Link knew he was talking about Cia, but none of the other people knew and were just begging and crying for release instead. This seemed to only anger him further, as indicated by his body starting to glow brighter and brighter.

"FYRUS WANTS HER."

"You're not getting to her!" Link yelled back as he ran at him and brandished the fire extinguisher, coating him in a good, thick layer of carbon dioxide. ' _Crud, that was probably the last of it too…'_ A good shake and a lack of the weight it had before proved his worry correct.

"Got a plan B, pup?" Bleddyn questioned from his hiding place.

"Heh, not really…" Link started backing up. He figured if he got one good shot in with the container that _might_ daze Fyrus long enough to come up with something else. Good news is that Fyrus didn't send out any flames at Link. Bad news is that he instead decided to charge after him. "GYAAAAAAAA!"

"Back off!" Athena exclaimed as she did a flying kick at Fyrus' shoulder, which sent him off course and stumbling.

' _Athy, you're here! You're here? How'd she get in?'_ Link thought as he skidded to a stop.

"Are you injured?" Athena asked as she landed, an unusual amount of worry on her face for someone she's just met.

Link was about to say he was okay until he found himself coughing while speaking, "I'm fine!" ' _The air isn't though. Gotta clear it out somehow once I transform!'_

Athena gasped quietly as she heard him. On one hand she was delighted that Link could speak to her through the loophole of her magical alter ego! On the other, the smoke needed to be cleared out as soon as possible. She glanced at all the windows and was quick to summon her bow and shoot the glass, all the while internally apologizing for the property damage.

Fyrus was starting to recover as Athena finished breaking the windows and tried to charge after her, a powerful cry escaping his lips as he ran at them like an enraged bull.

"Ahh!" Athena put her wings back on and, without a second thought, grabbed Link bridal style and flew off with him.

"Gya!" Link tried not to be too clingy as he found himself suddenly in her arms and flying around.

"Sorry!" Athena winced. "And hang on tighter!" She found herself having to do an inside loop maneuver to avoid getting hit by some fire.

Link found himself shutting his eyes once the loop started. ' _Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke! How come I'm fine with these stunts as Sheikhan but not as me!?'_

Athena sighed in relief as the fire missed the two of them and then landed near the hallway she had initially came out of. "There's some safe spots down here, and if you come across anyone else, try and stick by them. Survival in numbers and all."

Link nodded to go along with the charade of him just being a civilian, coughing once he confirmed his supposed action.

Athena's face was quick to snap into a concerned look. "Will you be okay? You were in here for some time."

Link gave a single nod this time once he finished his cough.

"As you wish." She knew arguing the point might bite the both of them in this circumstance. "Stay low, I'll find you once everything's been taken care off!" And off she went to do so.

Link watched her for a few second, a sense of awe overcoming him as he watched her perform a kick to Fyrus' solar plexis. ' _I love Zelda with all my heart, but Athena has some really_ _good legs. In more ways than one, if that stumbling back was any indication.'_ After one mental slap, he ran off and hid himself in an empty office.

"About time!" Bleddyn complained as he zipped out from Link's hood.

"I know." Link muttered with a sigh.

Bleddyn stared at him in silence for a moment. "But good on you for not puking on Athena."

"Thanks." His was a very obvious deadpan before he snapped into saving the day mode. "Bleddyn, time to howl!" Out ran Sheikhan Wolf with his signature wolfish wail. The first thing he did when re-entering was clearing out the smoke through the broken windows.

"SHUT UP!" Fyrus charged after Sheikhan, but the green-clad hero was too fast and avoided the attack.

"How did you get in?" Athena questioned as she flew over to her partner's side.

"There was a way in the back! Didn't wish to take away the thunder of you showing up first, my goddess."

"You're too kind." Athena gave an amused eye roll in return for his explanation.

"DON'T IGNORE ME." Fyrus pounded on his chest like a tie-wearing ape, grabbed some bleachers and threw them at the two. Both promptly gasped and managed to get out of the way in time, but silently agreed to keep the banter at a minimum for this fight.

"So, got any ideas on how to subdue this big guy?" Sheikhan inquired, tugging at his scarf a little due to the intense heat. His tunic may have been altered slightly in order to withstand the flames, but it did nothing when it came to keeping him cool.

"I'm… unsure. Perhaps your Item Charge may give us something useful?" She suggested while jumping away from a flaming piece of rubble that had landed a mere few inches shy of where she had once been standing.

"Well, it's worth a shot." He reached into his pouch. "Item Charge!" A few moments later he pulled out what looked to be a pair of boots, except they were cast in iron and nearly caused him to fall flat on his face from their cumbersome weight.

"So much for a water-related item." Athena sighed while folding her arms across her chest. "I fail to see how a pair of extremely heavy boots will aid us against a _flaming_ behemoth."

' _Same here, but reasoning with Bleddyn is nearly impossible when it comes to these things!'_ "We've had weirder, my goddess."

"True, along with weider fights." Athena had to agree on that point.

"TELL FYRUS WHERE GIRL IS OR FACE ME!" He roared, the whole building beginning shake due to his increasing rage.

Athena found herself hovering in place to avoid being shaken up while Sheikhan had some stability due to his new boots, but ended up tasting pumpkin.

' _First with the tornado, and now this!?'_ Sheikhan screamed mentally while he groaned a bit on the outside.

"We don't know where she is!" Athena half-lied.

"Even if we did, no way we'd tell you!" Sheikhan added.

"THEN FYRUS WILL SMASH YOU!" He bellowed once more, then charged at them with full force.

Sheikhan found himself having to ditch his new boots for the time being so that he could avoid being hit. It worked, but what could he do with boots he could barely move?

Athena avoided the attack by sticking to the air but she knew she couldn't keep this up forever, especially when she would have to shoot at some point. ' _How can we stop him like this!?'_ Any further thoughts were stopped when Fyrus managed to jump up and catch her, pull her down, try to figure out where her Miraculous was and how to get it off.

"Athy!" Sheikhan ran forward and tried to tackle the behemoth of a Gufuu… only to find that he couldn't do much against Fyrus' weight class and was also picked up.

"WHERE ARE YOUR MIRACULOUS?"

"Like we'd tell you!" Sheikhan grimaced.

Fyrus growled and figured a bit of roughing up was needed, so he gave the two of them a good throw into a nearby and still somewhat intact wrestling ring.

"Oof!"

"Ow!"

"Why do your wings _always_ poke me in the ribs, Athy?" Sheikhan questioned in a half-mocking tone of sadness.

"To see if you're ticklish." Athena responded dryly.

"Ha, ha very funny." Sheikhan responded sarcastically. He then momentarily shifted his gaze to Fyrus and then at the wrestling ring they were sprawled out it. "...I think I might have an idea."

"Do tell?" Athena sat up while asking.

"What did we get thrown into?" Sheikhan asked with a small smirk.

"..." Athena's eyes widened a little. "But he threw you over here as though you were a crumpled up piece of paper!"

"Oh yeah." Sheikhan deflated at that.

"Wait a moment… the boots!" Athena grabbed him by the shoulders. "If you wear those, you _might_ be able to change things around!"

"That explains why we didn't get the Ice Rod or something!" Sheikhan glanced around trying to find them. He spotted said boots a few feet away and made a mad dash towards them, grabbing the cumbersome footwear before slowly making his way back to the wrestling ring. During his trip Athena kept Fyrus busy with her arrows and a couple diving kicks for good measure, being extremely mindful of Fryus' hands due to _not_ wanting to be thrown again. "Any day here, Sheik!"

"They're _heavy!_ " Sheikhan groaned. "So, unless you come _over_ and _help_ , it'll be a while!"

"Sorry." Athena was being sincere despite the pressure. "I'll keep covering for you, at least until he's down long enough, then I'll come and help."

"Thanks!" Sheikhan strained with a smile as he continued to transport the Item Charge he would be talking to Bleddyn about later.

"GIVE ME MIRACULOUS!" Fyrus roared, throwing a fiery punch towards the winged heroine in attempt to knock her down.

"Whoa!" Athena managed a dodge but was it not for her magical outfit, she would have suffered some serious first or second degree burns from the fires that jumped out from his hand. She returned the attempted hit by landing and launching an arrow as quickly as she could, the target landing just between his belly button and diaphragm. That worked for all of a few seconds before she found herself having to perform some hasty dodges.

Fyrus wasn't letting up with his attacks, or the fire that came with them. His anger, his sadness, his revenge, it all kept him going with his attacks against Athena. There seemed to be no sluggishness in his movements, the glowing in his eyes becoming more intense as his body started to glow like kindling that was starting to catch fire.

A few moments and a struggle to slip on the Iron Boots later, Sheikhan was prepared to set his plan into motion with his feet literally planted firmly in the middle of the wrestling ring. "Hey, Flamehead! Pick on someone your own weight!" He shouted, hoping to bait Fyrus into getting inside the ring so that he could put his rather heavy boots to good use finally. That caught the attention of both Fyrus and Athena but for very different reasons. Fyrus ceased his assault on her for the time being and charged after Sheikhan Wolf.

"Be careful!" Athena yelled to her companion.

"Aren't I always?" Sheikhan called back with a cheeky smirk. His confidence started to slowly erode as Fyrus started to enter the ring, which turned into an enclosure of fire. ' _Okay, so Athy_ was _right to be very concerned about my well-being.'_

"LET US BEGIN!" Fyrus raised one of his legs up then slammed it against the ground. This resulted in the ring around them going from a durable paint on the surface to one of high flames that burned with the intensity of a scorned warrior's heart.

Sheikhan's whole body shook from that and mentally thanked the boots for keeping him from falling over. He did his best to do the same pose despite the weight and braced himself for the oncoming charge of his opponent once he had finished. Good news is that he wasn't instantly knocked out by the force alone; bad news is that trying to push forward was _difficult_.

"Hang on!" Athena muttered under a breath a prayer of success to let her arrows get through the fire that separated her, the Gufuu and her partner. While they were lit on fire for a short period of time and managed to hit into Fyrus' back, their existence didn't last long because of such. ' _So much for that idea, now what? Come on, Athena, what could be done to help?'_

"A little more help than that would be greatly appreciated!" Sheikhan yelled between gritted teeth as he continued to attempt to push Fyrus backwards with all his might. Their strength appeared to be about evenly matched thanks to help of his Iron Boots, but he didn't know how much longer he could last in this 'shoving' match.

"I'm working on it!" Athena yelled back as she tried to analyze what the next step should be in taking this particular Gufuu down. ' _We have no water, Wolfie's item ended up being boots instead of something that could make it rain, he's in a deadlock struggle_ and _can't control the wind around him. Nayru, what can be done? Everyone's counting on us! There's_ bound _to be_ something _to catch his attention! A word or phrase, or even a person. Other than Cia, who got us into this mess. Again. Wait a moment…'_

Fyrus released a growl that vibrated the ground beneath them as he took a step forward and moved Sheikhan back a good foot, "YOUR MIRACULOUS ARE MINE!"

The magical lupine hero gritted his teeth while pushing back with every fiber of strength his body possessed. "Don't count on it!" He proclaimed while managing to push his opponent back at least a few inches. ' _Is this form's strength a reflection of his emotional stress? My brother… I'm sorry we must face each other as enemies in this time.'_

"Fyrus!" Athena exclaimed as loudly as possible over the flames, "Such a corruption of your heart reflects the anger inside but that's not who you truly are, is it?"

"SILENCE!" The flaming behemoth yelled. "MY FIGHT IS WITH WOLF BOY." He growled again due her interruption.

Sheikhan used this small window to manage a good foot of pushing back, but found that Fyrus would not tolerate such and tried to strike him in retaliation.

"Sheik!" Athena screeched as she saw her companion stumble back with a cry of pain.

"I'll be fine!" He assured quickly as he tried to blink the stars out of his vision. He was pretty sure there was the taste of iron in his mouth but didn't want to worry Athy further. Additionally, it would be highly disrespectful to spit one's blood-mixed saliva out onto a mat of fighters.

The two entangled into a deadlock of grip once more, though with the fatal beep coming from Sheikah's wrist, he knew his time was going to be up sooner or later and in more ways than one. There was a cold lump within the hero's guts as he saw his possessed brother's face crack into a demonic smile as black scales formed around Fyrus' eyes.

" **Yes, victory is close! Wear him down, then rip the Miraculous from him once his transformation has finished!"** Borova instructed, his own masked face an infernal expression of happiness and achievement.

"YES, MASTER!" Fyrus forced more weight against Sheikah Wolf, not only pushing him back in steady increments but also crushing the hero little by little.

"Hang on! I'll see if I can-" Athena was about to fly in when a quick noise of disagreement came from Sheikhan's lips.

"Another attacking in a sumo ring is dishonorable, it would only make things worse!" he remarked as he willed his body to push back and not give up.

She would have disagreed, but understood the wisdom in not pushing more buttons while Darunia was a puppet of Boarova.

"YOUR MIRACULOUS IS MINE, LITTLE WOLF!" Fyrus boomed with the wicked grin still ever present on his lips as he pushed back even harder, eagerly awaiting for the transformation and its added strength to give out.

"As if!" Sheikah groaned under the strain and trying to brace himself as he forced his body to push against his larger opponent.

' _There's a part of Darunia still in there… but how can I reach it without being obvious about tipping off that it means I know him?'_ Athena's heart rate spiked up when her ally let out another pained noise of effort in his duel against Fyrus. ' _Come on, wisdom! Where are you?!'_ She had to wrench her gaze away from the fight to try and find some clarity within the chaos. Covering her eyes and taking a deep breath, she quietly hoped Sheikhan Wolf would forgive her for seemingly ignoring his efforts as she tried to force her body and mind to chill out.

"EVEN YOUR FRIEND WEEPS FOR YOUR LOSS!" Fyrus gloated.

"Funny, I don't hear her sniffling." Sheikhan gave an impish grin, glad for his improved hearing to keep him from freaking out about that statement. "She's just doing what she needs to help me out while I'm in a hard place." ' _Come on, Athena, think!'_

' _I just need to find one point, just_ one _point, and use it as a means to verbally strike. It has to be kept vague to avoid any suspicion from Wolfie, yet also somehow hitting the right chord with Fryus - no, Darunia.'_ "What about...your family?!" she blurted out, it having been the first thing to come to mind in her moment of slight panic.

Fyrus' face contorted into a look of confusion at such a question, something having clicked in his mind. He stumbled back as though hit in the face with a backhand slap, despite Sheikhan Wolf having not done such, and gripped at his face and head while muttering incoherent, fast-paced ramblings.

Sheikhan's face showed a great amount of bewilderment. While he was glad to have the pressures of the fight cease, he was still pretty on edge due to how Fyrus was reacting. ' _This is...pretty out there for a Gufu? This is the 9th possession we've had to deal with. Hard to say for sure.'_ He then noticed that the flame ring had started to recede and had to motion for Athena, who was starting to come over to step into the fight, to cease. He wasn't going to risk Athena's safety just because Fyrus' mind was elsewhere, plus the 'honor among warriors' thing.

Athena gave her fellow hero a bit of a glare that was accompanied with a pout, but did not go against his wishes. She instead flew around to the other side, landing in a closer proximity to Fyrus, and watched him carefully. ' _Good news is that it seems to have worked. Come on Darunia!'_

The way Fyrus moved about indicated that he was seeing _something_ that caused his sporadic head movements, some stumbling and light panting while making sense of what was going on. Head pounding like a sledge hammer to a brick wall he worked on just standing in one spot while trying to find his focus.

" **What are you doing? Finish them off!"** Boarova demanded. " **The girl's toying with your mind! I've given you** _ **true**_ **clarity into what you must do and how to do it. Claim their Miraculous Stone!"** All the villain got as a response was angry and confused wailing. He rubbed his temples with his forefinger and thumb due to lacking any desire to create a comeback. "Teenagers…" He grumbled to himself.

While that was going on, the fire ring had started to dissipate until there were only small licks of flame surrounding the possessed wrestler and the green-clad hero. Athena finally decided to ignore Sheikahn's previous pleas and entered the ring. She knew something had to be done while he was in a vulnerable state, but what? While turning to talk to her partner, that's when she saw the hint-giving arrow in her vision that was pointing at his boots.

"Take off the boots."

"What-?!" He was surprised and unamused, mostly the latter.

"Just trust me and give me one!" Athena kept her eyes on Fyrus as he worked on getting his feet out of his unusual footwear.

"As you wish, my goddess." With a worn out sigh Sheikhan Wolf began to do so. He was just glad they fit over his regular shoes and that he wasn't going to go barefoot on a once-fiery mat. He had to push the first shoe a bit towards her before being capable of picking it up and handing it over. "So what's the plan then?"

Another freak out fit caused a ceasing of communication until he had settled out, muttering something about honor or revenge.

"On the count of three, we throw them at his mask. With any hope it will either get the Gufuu out or show us where the vulnerable eye is on his face." She explained in a hushed tone to avoid Fyrus from hearing.

"Ooh, got'cha." Sheikhan nodded and held up his boot. "On the count of three?"

"Sounds good." Athena nodded and grabbed hers up as well. Despite her stone being associated with the mind she also possessed enough strength to hold up the dense footwear.

"Ready?"

Athena gave a nod and prepared to launch.

"THREE!" Sheikhan hurled his for all his worth.

"THREE!?" Athena's flew out a little clumsily due to the surprise of it.

Their shouting had fortunately been loud and odd enough to catch Fyrus' attention, which then lead to his mask being hit with the Iron Boots when he turned to look at them in confusion. He went down with a dull but powerful THUD that caused the ground around him to shake. There was a sudden crackling noise and the mask began to crumble before completely falling off his face, exposing the Gufuu that was glancing around frantically with its single eye.

Athena quickly went to work by flying up into the air, turning her wings into her bow and shooting her target as she fell. "I absolve the darkness in your heart!"

The Gufuu screeched in pain as it began to dissolve and completely disappear in a puff of purple smoke, leaving behind a confused and normal-sized Darunia looking between the two superheroes in front of him. They both helped him up and looked him over.

"Thanks!" Darunia was a bit drained but otherwise right as rain. "I'm sorry about all of that." He looked to them both with sadness in his eyes. "Whoever I hurt or whatever I broke, I'll make up for it."

"There's no need to." Sheikhan assured as the Navii came into existence from the Gufuu's remains. He carefully collected it in his hands and whispered, "It might be too late, but could you fix his geode too?" Then he handed the Navii to Athena.

"Miraculous Restoration!" And everything was back to the way it was before Fyrus came to be.

"See? No need." Sheikhan Wolf beamed at his friend.

"Just be mindful to take care of yourself too." Athena added gently. She would have continued on but her Miraculous started to beep, as did her partner's. "Looks like we've gotta go, farewell!" And with that the two departed. Athena seemed to have left the building, but had doubled back through an open window into an office while Sheikhan hid out in a nearby bathroom, and waited in a stall for the de-transformation light show to finish up. Once the de-transformations were completed, Bleddyn and Brawynn took shelter in their respective owners' backpacks and began to munch on the snacks that had been packed for them.

* * *

Boarova growled in frustration as he planted his trident into the ground before him out of anger. "I was _so_ close to obtaining the Miraculous this time!" He snarled and started to pace in a short line before his weapon. "It seems that brute strength isn't the type of Gufuu to rely on. Yes, this will require a new strategy for another day…" He then plucked his trident out and exited, the fire waning as he did so. "And that day _will_ be soon!"

* * *

Zelda slipped out of the office she was in and started running back to the gym. She wasn't sure where Link was and had debated looking around first before seeing the others but, as luck would have it, crossed paths with him just as they came to the entrance. "Link!" She got him in a big hug. "You're okay!" She was saddened a bit that he couldn't speak to her as Zelda, but maybe one day she could try again as Athena.

Link hugged her back and nodded. He was just glad she was safe too. They walked back together and signed to each other as they did so. It was mostly talk about how they managed to get away as safely as possible. On seeing their friends they both waved, but before anyone could part their lips to speak, a familiar head of violet-colored hair burst through the front doors and ran straight into Ravio, enveloping him in a very tight bear hug. "Ravio! Thank the goddesses, you're safe!" the heiress cried, showing no signs of letting go anytime soon.

"Hilda?" Zelda looked quite perplexed. "Did you come late on accident or something?"

Hilda shook her head then put a kiss on Ravio's cheek. "I was following Ravio's TatlTael updates about the incident and came as quickly as possible."

"Such woe did I witness and record!" Ravio exclaimed in a melodramatic tone.

"All you did was just drag me around after getting me out of the closet!" Cia huffed, very unamused.

"Like I said...such woe!" Ravio continued his melodrama while holding Hilda close and putting his head on her shoulder. "I need love."

Hilda giggled a little at Ravio antics, her lips forming a small smile. "I'm just happy that you're okay.. All those pictures of smoke, fire and debris almost made me think that something dreadful had happened to you-" she sighed, gently laying her head on his and nuzzling him a little.

"Just some scares and screaming, no harm done." Ravio assured as he blushed under her affections. In the background, Cia was doing the 'Gag me' hand motion while taking a selfie and posting it.

Zelda giggled at the lovebirds while Link had an amused grin on his face. They were soon pulled into a bear hug by Darunia from behind. "Brother! Zelda!"

"Hey!" Zelda got a bit of wind knocked out of her, but returned his affection.

Link coughed a bit but otherwise gave him a bro pat on the back during the hug.

One of the coaches of a team called out that they were going to set up a few things and that they'd be getting back to the matches once it was done. Darunia let go of his friends and went to help out and then they all went to find their seats. The fights began up again and, while the speed depended on the skill of the winner, it was soon time for Darunia to try and beat the champ! It was very close as his opponent had a balance of strength and speed, but Darunia's fighting spirit overpowered him and he won the match! Afterwards was celebratory ice cream and merriment until close to 11 PM when they all had to head home to not worry their respective parents/guardians. To Darunia's great surprise, and joy, he found his geode fully intact and safely tucked inside its box, though something about it looked a bit more sparkly than usual now.


	10. Phantom Boarova

**Chapter 10: Phantom Boarova**

As the chills of autumn settled into the city and everyone bundled up to combat it, the students of Harkinian Academy got something fun to do as the end of the month closed in: a field trip to the local museum! It mostly hosted historical art pieces, but there was a little bit of everything ranging from fossils, tombs, artifacts and displays both still and living. Today they were focusing more on the artisanal aspects with their teacher, Mr. Pikango Nishimura. They all had to fill out a worksheet as they went, but otherwise it was a few hours away from school. Stalworth seemed the most invested in the trip, but it was mostly with the music or fairy related pieces.

"Welcome!" Called a voice from near the group. It was a man about 48 years of age with green hair up in a ponytail that was white at the temples and had a cane in one hand. "Most of you know me as Mr. Vaughan." He squinted out into the group and tried to assess who all was here. "I think I remember some of you...Groose for sure. Hello Stalworth. Nice to see you again Hilda." His violet eyes began to sparkle when he saw a certain green-haired girl jumping up and waving. "And my little Korok, Saria!"

While that was going on, Link and Zelda were signing to each other about the worksheet and what they could tell, from where they were currently with the group, what could help them answer the questions. Any further conversation was cut off when Mr. Nishimura said it was time to go out and find the answers on their worksheets. Mr. Vaughan took some of the students with him, Link included, in hopes that they could find some good answers while Nishimura took the rest of the group to another part of the museum. After the split up they were free to roam around to look - within reason. Any signs of monkeying around would get them stuck to an adult's side like a small child that can't be left to themselves.

Zelda found herself in front of a picture and wondered if she could use it to answer a few of her questions. It was a noblewoman taking a moment to tie a beautiful scarf around the bicep of a knight about to ride out on a long journey. Some part of her could see herself as the noblewoman as this was reminding her of being Athena and her dear partner. A soft, dreamy sigh escaped her lips as she let herself daydream for but a moment about how this scene would play out between herself and him.

Her thoughts of romantic chivalry were interrupted by a sudden voice. "Ah, I see you too are enamoured by the beauty of 'Godspeed.'" On turning to face this person Zelda found that the owner of the voice is male with red hair kept in locks that reminded her of curlers from her grandma's time and favored flamboyant usage of light and dark purples, even in a bit of some eyeshadow he wore. The only thing that seemed easy to look at were his brown eyes.

"Ah! Um, yes sir." Zelda nodded as she spoke. "It's a beautiful painting. It's so...soft and romantic."

"Truly a magnificent display of the period's romanticism in media!" Yuga agreed. "Its only equal being The Accolade." Her blank stare made his face and body deflate a bit in disappointment. "The one with the lady knighting the guy."

"Oooh." Now she got it.

The flamboyant man looked her over for a moment. "Now that I think of it...what brings you here, miss? You're a bit young for college and you also look like you've actually had more than a day's worth of sleep."

"I'm on my first field trip with my art class!" Zelda explained happily as she then showed him the worksheet. "We just need to find some pieces of art and answer these questions. Sure it means it's a short-ish trip, but better than nothing!"

He gave a thoughtful hum as he looked over the questions. "Ah, yes. Interesting. And such lovely handwriting too!"

"Thank you!" Zelda grinned a bit.

"Actually, I _could_ help you if you like. I didn't go through college just to meander around and occasionally dust historical artifacts." Yuga offered with a kind smile.

"That'd be lovely, thank you." Zelda nodded and so walked around with Yuga to find the pictures that would fit best for the answers she needed. Due to his help, she finished up quite quickly and ended up helping her classmates with theirs as well. He had to depart half-way through to tend to some curator business, but she had enough of a foothold on the world of art history to be okay on her own for now. Trying to do it with Link was interesting, as she wasn't sure of what signs were for certain terms, in addition to them both trying to hold their writing utensil and paper, but after Hilda wisely (and bluntly) pointed out that they could just text, things went _much_ more smoothly.

While that was going on, Yuga went to his office and looked over a picture he had hanging behind his desk. It was a painting that he had most recently finished and dubbed as his masterpiece. He had yet to show it anyone, but today was the day that he was finally going to achieve his dream of having one of his paintings displayed in his beloved art museum. The painting itself was of a woman in a long, flowing white gown with her violet colored locks flowing behind her, save for a section that was tied back in some sort of halo braid around her head. In her hands, was a golden, inverted triad of triangles, which her ruby red eyes were fixated upon. Crimson ribbons and a golden circlet adorned her hair, along with other pieces of matching jewelry that were present on her chest, middle fingers and the ends of her violet-colored tresses respectively. It was his interpretation of Lorule's Goddess, Loria, and the Lorulean Triforce that she had guarded many eons ago, painted in the style of the romanticism era. It was his best work yet and he could only hope that Mr. Vaughan would be proud of him. Now he just needed to wait for Mr. Vaughan to come to his office to talk it over!

There was a knock on the door. Yuga's heart rate spiked a bit from the suddenness of it all, but took a deep breath, threw a purple silk cloth over his masterpiece and opened the door. "Hello Mr. Vaughan!"

The older man hobbled in with a sigh. "Kids these days...at least Saria kept them from doing anything too drastic. Now, why did you wish to speak with me again, Yuga?"

"Well you see, sir…" Yuga rubbed his hands together in both excitement and nervousness, "I know you're set in your ways when it comes to the art of today. However!" He quickly stood beside his covered picture. "I have something that is the epitome of blended times! The romantic period of the past with the colors of today! I give you…" He did a dramatic pulling of the silk, "The Shadow's Light!"

The older man walked over. The only noise he made were the soft thumps of his cane against the floor. After carefully inspecting Yuga's work, he turned to him with a sad look upon his somewhat wrinkled features. "It's lovely, Yuga, it really is. However...it's a bit unbalanced."

"Un...balanced…" Yuga repeated back slowly with a slightly wavering voice.

"Uh, you see, you put a bit too much emphasis on the modern look of paint instead of the soft look of romanticism." He explained while gesturing a bit to the painting. "It just looks more modern than anything, Yuga. I'm sorry."

"I...see…" Yuga forced a calm smile on his face and nodded. "Very well then. I'll just...do what I can with this at a later date." Mr. Vaughan's phone suddenly went off and he answered it after some difficulty with the touch screen. "Yes, son? Ah. Mm-hmm. Yes, yes, I'm coming to take a look. Keep your pants on, Vaati." He then exited the room as he kept his son on the phone.

As silence began to settle into the office space, Yuga looked at this picture once more. He clenched his teeth, tears beginning to blur his vision. With a cry of rage he took his artwork and hit it against the ground. "EZLO, YOU FOOL! YOU KNOW NOTHING!" He screeched while falling to his knees.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit cavern, the muffled clanking of armor could be heard as flames began to illuminate the pathway to the center of the room. "Ah yes, the heart of an artist is so easy to _break_ when faced with judgement from even the most experienced of critics." He looked over the drawings upon the rocky wall and gazed at the choices in front of him. "Decisions, decisions…" He pondered for a moment before stopping at a large figure that had a loose resemblance to Boore. " _Excellent._ " He placed a claw upon it and his Gufuu formed in his palm. The small creature had an extra devious glint to its eye and soon took off after Boarvoa's target. "Go forth, and claim a new servant for my plans!" He commanded before cackling maniacally at the thought of his impending success.

* * *

"I worked for _hours_ on that masterpiece and he had the _audacity_ to call it TOO MODERN?!" he seethed, his hands shaking as he clenched them into tight fists. "Has he no concept of 'beauty'?!" he shrieked, beginning to shove miscellaneous items off his desk in his fit of rage. He continued to grumble to himself about his misfortune, unknowingly getting a flying visitor as Yuga paced this way and that around his office. It wasn't until he turned back towards his desk after his third or fourth pace that his gaze landed on the small, purple creature that had been eyeing him and he let out a loud, audible gasp before instinctively flinching away from it. "What _is_ that.. _thing?!_ It's absolutely _hideous!_ " he exclaimed, a disgusted look upon his face.

The Gufuu made a noise that sounded like it was highly offended at being called ugly and used a wing to slap Yuga across his nose before diving in that area. After it took place within Yuga, black scales formed around his face and a certain voice was heard within Yuga's mind.

" **Greetings to you, my artistic companion."** the voice began. " **My name is Boarova and I have taken notice of your...unfortunate situation. I can give you the power to show everyone the** _ **true beauty**_ **of your brushwork, but** _ **only**_ **if you promise to bring me the miraculous of Athena and Sheikhan Wolf in return."** he stated, confident that his offer was too tempting to refuse.

"I ACCEPT!" Yuga responded with _great_ enthusiasm as he threw his arms up into the air. "I WILL MAKE THEM ALL PAY!"

" **Then go forth, Phantom Boarova, and show the people of this world what a** _ **true**_ **masterpiece looks like!"** he exclaimed, a wicked grin present upon his face.

Yuga cackled as the scales spread over his body. His suit was replaced with a bodysuit that was a malevolent shade of dark violet, a cape with fashionable rips at the hem and a boney mask with shadowy horns on its sides covered all but his lips and chin. He examined his new look and took special noticed of the spike-covered bracers and his much, much longer and even redder hair. He summoned forth a weapon that had the handle of a paintbrush but where the bristles would be was instead three, long trident spikes. With another cackle he exited the room, " **I'M COMING FOR YOU, EZLO!** "

* * *

"C'mon Zel, we won't hear the end of it if we miss the bus!" Saria warned as the students started to head outside.

"Just a second, really!" Zelda had hoped to spot Yuga one more time to thank him for this help earlier but couldn't find him nor anyone who seemed to know where to look. It was on hearing screams of terror not too far from where she was and the cackles of a madman that she began to worry. "Saria!? Get everyone outside, hurry!"

Saria was about to ask when she heard a second round of screams. "OKAY, EVERYONE LET'S GET OUTSIDE NOW!" Despite her small size, she could really push people out when need be. She about tackled Link when she noticed him trying to double back. "Hold up! You're _not_ going back in there! Just give Zelda a little more time, she'll be out soon!" She looked to the exit and just tapped her foot. "Yup. In three...two...one...point nine...point...eight…" Her voice faltered the more and more time passed.

"Can I go get her now?" Link asked dryly.

"Yeah. Don't die okay?" Saria let go and then focused on rounding up the other members of the class. "And check on my family, if you see any of them!"

"Will do!" And Link was off.

"Has _anyone_ seen Ravio or Hilda!?" Saria was doing a frantic headcount, but couldn't find either of them in the crowd.

* * *

Back in the museum, in a little hallway not too populated by visitors, a certain couple was having a quiet moment to themselves, or rather it would be quiet if one of them wasn't being a bit chatty. "So what's the difference between outlaws and inlaws?" Ravio paused to wait for her response, which was a shrug. "Outlaws are wanted!"

Hilda covered her mouth with one hand in attempt to stifle her muffled laughter. "That's horrible!"

" **NOTHING IS HORRIBLE WITH ME AROUND, MY SWEETS! PHANTOM BOAROVA IS HERE TO DELIVER** _ **BEAUTY**_ **TO THIS DULL WORLD~!** " The Gufuu announced with vigor while attempting to zap every person who appeared in his line of vision and transforming them into still-life paintings resembling said people.

Ravio grabbed Hilda's hand and started racing to the nearest exit with panicky mutters.

" **NOT SO FAST MY DEAR LOVEBIRDS!"** he exclaimed, turning towards them as a devious grin spread across his face. " **YOU TWO SHALL MAKE AN** _ **EXCELLENT**_ **WORK OF ART TOGETHER, DON'T YOU THINK?"** he suggested before quickly sending a burst of magic their way.

Hilda's eyes widened as a small gasp escaped between her lips. "NO!" she cried before quickly shoving Ravio out of the way, so that the blast only collided with her. All too soon, the heiress's form dissipated and was replaced with a violet-colored picture frame, encasing her own self-portrait that slowly clattered to the ground near Ravio's person.

"HILDA!" Ravio yelled and picked up the picture as quickly as he could despite his anxious fumblings. "Oh Hilly, oooh no. I-I gotta find the heroes! How do I get them? How do I _call_ them? Oh Hilda, I'm so sorry you had to take that blow for me!" He carefully put his face against the painting as his lip quivered and a few tears fell.

" **YOU'LL THANK ME LATER, HER ETHEREAL BEAUTY IS IMMORTALIZED FOREVER NOW.** " Phantom Boarova huffed and then went back to the task at hand. " **OH EZLO~!** "he said in a sing-song voice as he took off towards said person's office.

* * *

By a miraculous coincidence, Zelda managed to find enough space behind a large statue to duck behind while Phantom Boarova was going around turning people into paintings. She was reluctant to step out and face him due to having learned the **hard** way that her Miraculous can't protect her from Boarova's minions if they possess a transformation-based power. Once all seemed quiet she poked her head out and assessed the damage. "He...turns people into paintings. _Great._ Not _as_ horrible as being turned into a tree, but that's still pretty unnerving.".

Brawynn flew out and perched on Zelda's head as she made a soft noise of thought. She then began to preen her hair a little before speaking. "What do _you_ think needs to happen?"

"We…" Zelda paused to think. "Need to stay calm despite this development."

"Mm-hmm." Brawynn confirmed as she straightened out a few hairs.

"Transform, find Wolfie, _try_ not to upset this particular Gufuu, eventually get to saving the day." Zelda concluded while tucking a bit of hair behind her ear.

"Very good." Brawynn smiled as she went back to sitting on her shoulder.

"...Oh! And keep these people off the ground so nothing tramples over them." The heiress worked on moving the portrait people off the ground and, with any hope, out of any potential danger. After that was done she started running in the direction she last saw Phantom Boarova in. "Brawynn, spread your wings!"

* * *

' _Where is she!?'_ Link thought in a panic as he ran around the museum. So far all he's found were pictures on the ground and hearing cackles echo off somewhere in the distance. He even took the time to examine some of the paintings left behind to see if she had been captured...to find that this was _not_ the case and worked to moving them out of the way. At this point, his Kwami decided to show up and started to sniff around. "Trying to track her or something?"

"Nah, just getting a look-see of what's going on." Bleddyn explained. "I'll give this Gufuu this - there's major dedication to the theme here."

"I have a bad feeling about who this Gufuu is under the possession." Link recalled the help Zelda had, what was his name again? "Yaga? Yaya?"

"Yuga." Bleddyn responded with a deadpan tone. "Guy acts like he was around when this stuff was made. Pompous know-it-all." He huffed with a slight bristle to his fur. He calmed down on seeing The Accolade nearby.

"...You okay there, Bleddyn?" Link asked while walking over and soon found a weird expression on his face. It was stern as if he was in deep thought, but his eyes had a lovey dovey sparkle to them. "Uhh…?"

Bleddyn seemed to snap out of it once Link entered his field of vision. "I was just thinking about some stuff. Let's get moving, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Link nodded in agreement and continued on, the little Kwami hiding in his hood. He began to pick up the pace on hearing some laughter rather closeby. "Bleddyn, time to howl!" He let out his ear-piercing howl as he ran full speed to the source.

* * *

" **WHERE ARE YOU,** _ **OLD FRIEND**_ **?** " Phantom Boarova called as he tore through Ezlo's office trying to find him. Despite the minimal spaces to hide in such a location, he was having difficulty in locating him. " **DID HE NOT COME HERE AFTER DESTROYING MY ART PIECE?** "

" **Don't forget about your end of the bargain, my phantom.** " Boarova reminded with an edge of threat to his tone.

" **WORRY NOT, ONCE I HAVE MADE** _ **EZLO**_ **PAY, I WILL GET THOSE MIRACULOUS OF THEIRS FOR YOU~!** " Phantom Boarova declared while accidentally knocking over a lamp.

" **Terrific. Thank you.** " Boarova rubbed his temples and made a note to have the voices of his pawns taken down 4 notches from here on out. Maybe also tone down the intensity of their emotions to control them better.

" **NOW...WHERE ARE YOU~?** " Phantom Boarova gave his weapon a fancy twirl of his fingers and pointed it at a nearby wall. He waved it around in a rectangular shape and made a new door into it and proceeded to push it open before going through to the room on the other side. He went through this process a few more times before finally finding Ezlo in the exhibit of old technologies that have the current working theory of once functioning as guardians of times past. " **THERE YOU ARE, YOU HEATHEN!** "

"Wha-?" Ezlo squawked on seeing this supposed stranger before him. "What do you want with me?!" He held his cane in a manner that he could hit this odd figure if need be.

" **MY REVENGE~!** " Phantom Boarova cackled as he pointed at the curator and, in a flash of dark energy, turned him into a lifeless portrait as he did the others.

It was at this point that Athena and Sheikhan Wolf had entered the scene and found that they were too late! Both let out a terrified "NO!" on seeing the frame that held the elder man clatter to the floor. They didn't even have time to process that the other was here as Phantom Boarova started shooting out his attack again to give them both the same cruel fate.

"We have to leave!" Athena commanded as she bounced off a wall to nullify a blast that was coming at her.

"But we just got here!" Sheikhan retorted as he used his shield to knock back a blast.

"We're running around like cuccos without heads, that's a bad strategy all around!"

"Fair point!" Sheikhan grunted as he did a somersault out of harm's way.

" **YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS!** " Phantom Boarova screeched while speeding up the strokes of his paint trident.

"Not good." Sheikhan gulped as he switched out to his Pegasus Boots and sprinted out of harm's way. This worked until the exhibit got in his way and he ended up crashing into it and getting entangled by the metallic, octopus-like limbs displayed there. Oddly enough, they were still intact despite being disturbed in such a destructive manner. "Ooowwwww…"

" **SUCH A KLUTZ YOU ARE! LUCKILY YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SUCH A THING WHEN YOU'RE MADE INTO A WORK OF ART!** " Phantom Boarova sent out an orb of magic to seal the lupine hero's fate when it was knocked off course by one of Athena's arrows. The Gufuu growled and now put his focus on her.

Athena summoned her wings once more and flew out of harm's way thanks to many air acrobatics.

" **STAY STILL, YOU BEASTLY BLUE JAY!** "

"I think myself more of a hummingbird!" Athena retorted as she found some large, circular gears being displayed and, with a bit of quick thinking and some winding up with a corkscrew spin, tossed it at him like a discus. She managed to land her target and Phantom Boarova was seeing stars. The holder of Wisdom was quick to land and untangle her partner from his impromptu prison and spotted a doorway she's very sure wasn't there before. "Hurry, this way!" She whispered in haste as she ran to and through it with him.

They both slowly slid to the ground panting while looking at each other.

"We're screwed." Sheikhan stated bluntly.

"We just...we just need to think." Athena assured. "Oh! Your Item Charge, have you used it yet?"

"N- ooh!" Sheikhan straightened himself up a bit and then reached into his pouch. "Item Charge!" He waited until he felt something in his hand and pulled out a bracer with an identical build to his Miraculous but instead housed one fuchsia colored gem instead of a green paw print. " **What.** "

"...You _really_ need to talk to your Kwami about these."

"I _know_ I do!"

"Now to figure out what it does." Athena took it from him and gave it a look over.

"Any ideas, my goddess? Other than having to wear it."

Athena bit her lower lip a little. "Ahh…"

He sighed and gently took it back from her. "We'll find out then." Then he slipped it on his free wrist. The gem glowed a bit once it settled, but otherwise didn't do much. "Ready to go back?"

"I've gotten my second wind, so yes." Athena nodded, got to her feet and then helped her partner up. They both snapped to attention when they heard a clatter and a strangled yelp. "Who's there!?"

"Athena? Sheikhan Wolf?" Ravio sounded both sad and hopeful. He came into their view with Hilda's portrait in his hands.

Athena felt her heart sink on seeing what fate had befallen Hilda while Sheikhan just had a look of disbelief.

"I, uh! It's not from here, promise!" Ravio clarified in thinking that they reacted in such a manner because they thought he was stealing from the museum. "It's my girlfriend, she…" He choked up a bit on recalling the recent memory.

"We'll save her." Athena stated in a firm, serious and almost cold manner. "I promise."

Sheikhan was a bit surprised at how she sounded but shared the sentiment nonetheless. "As do I."

"Thank you." Ravio's voice cracked a bit before he sniffled a little while wiping his face and nose with his sleeve. Due to that he lost a bit of his grip on his girlfriend-turned-portrait and scrambled to try and catch the frame. Sheikhan had beat him to the punch and used his fast reflexes and Pegasus Boots to do such.

The gemstone on the mystery bracelet started to glow! Hilda's still life form was bathed in a blinding light, which soon dimmed to reveal that the Driscoll Heiress had been restored to normal, albeit unconscious for the time being.

"HILDAAA!" Ravio cried with glee as he fell to his knees and held her close. He then thanked the heroes through his ugly crying while he rocked her a little.

"...That's what it does!" Athena exclaimed as she hugged Sheikhan from behind. "It absorbs his magic! Sheik, your Kwami's a genius!"

Sheikhan choked a bit since the sudden hug knocked the wind out of him. "All in a day's work! Athy, we need to save the day before I lose consciousness from your bear hug."

"Apologizes." Athena released him and then headed to the painted door. "Now let's go!" Her wolfish partner was quick to follow.

"Good luck you two!" Ravio called out. "Hilda would say the same if she was awake!"

The heroes gave him a glance back with a smile on each of their faces before going through the door and psyching themselves up for round two.

" **YOU GOT IN A LUCKY SHOT LAST TIME, YOU WON'T** _ **THIS**_ **TIME!** " Phantom Boarova announced as he began to furiously swipe at the duo while they were still within a close proximity of each other.

Sheikhan slipped his shield onto the side with the Item Charge and absorbed the blasts while Athena hid behind him. "Hopefully this doesn't have a limit." He muttered.

"Or if it does, you figure out how to release the built up energy in time." Athena said with a bit of a flinch due to a particularly hard blow to the shield.

" **WHY! WON'T! YOU! TWO! TURN! INTO! PAINTINGS!?** " Phantom Boarova was getting tired of all this swinging with no results.

" **Need I remind you to GRAB THEIR MIRACULOUS** _ **before**_ **you make them into works of art?** " Boarova stated bluntly in his mental link with his pawn.

" **WORRY NOT, IT SHALL BE DONE!** " Phantom Boarova declared with a fancy twirl of his weapon.

While he was distracted with the mental link, the duo separated and tried to attack. Athena rapidly shot out as many arrows as she could while Sheikhan used his wind power to knock Phantom Boarova off balance, and to give himself a bit of a boot to attack with his sword. This Gufuu was getting fed up with their attack and, on some advice from his boss, merged with a nearby wall! Their attacks couldn't hit him now and they had no means to follow him.

Sheikhan let out a curse in Japanese as he sheathed his sword and stared at the moving art that Phantom Boarova turned himself into. "He's _taunting_ us."

"I'm aware." Athena sighed and wondered if she could stop him from moving further if she had an arrow embedded into the wall before the now 2D Gufuu could cross it. Instead of shooting it, she instead waited for it to appear and drove it into the wall. Sadly, she had no luck as he just walked through it with no damage. "Curses!"

Sheikhan sighed and gave a light punch against the wall after witnessing that. As luck would have it, he ended up hitting it with the hand that bore the Item Charge and found himself being absorbed into it with a surprised yelp. "ATHY!?" And soon found himself 2D and screaming.

"SHEIK?" Athena cried out as she witnessed Sheikhan's odd transformation.

" **BE QUIET YOU WELP.** " Phantom Boarova exclaimed, his ears beginning to ring from the 2D wolf hero's screams. It was then that he realized that said hero _also_ became a part of the wall and began to move as quickly as his flat form could take him.

"...Sheik! You can get him now!" Athena pointed to where she saw the Gufuu fleeing.

"Oh right!" And he was off to chase after Phantom Boarova.

The chase was...much less exciting if you were just watching since it was just 2 paintings moving around in a straight line. Inside the wall, it was much more intense as Phantom Boarova worked on avoiding capture by doing whatever he could to slow the other down. He tried hiding behind displays, going over glass, trying to blend into other pieces and all that good stuff. Sheikhan was not fooled by any of this and continued his pursuit!

Poor Athena was just left to sit and wait until her wolf could capture the Gufuu. "This looked more fun in cartoons…" She sighed and hoped Wolfie would find a way to get both him and the Gufuu out of the wall soon.

Meanwhile, with Sheikhan Wolf and Phantom Boarova, they continued their cartoonish run around the room despite neither making any sort of real progress in catching or escaping from the other. At some point, they both agreed to a truce that would last long enough for them both to catch their breath. Sheikhan flinched a bit on hearing the beep of his Miraculous. ' _Even when I'm like this? Aw c'mon!_ ' He took a moment to think about how to do this. Could he bring in Athena? Probably not, splitting one artifact between 2 people for travel typically didn't end well. ' _How many times did I run around?_ ' He tried to recall and slowly began to realize that he had ran _around_ the room. "That's it!" He whispered to himself as he found his second wind and ran in the opposite direction he had been going in before.

" **WAIT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?** " Phantom Boarova watched the hero move while trying to figure out the thought process behind this. He only started to understand the plan when he finally saw Sheikhan trying to come at him at a full sprint while his back was turned. " **YOU CHEAT!** " Pride overcoming fear (and intelligence), he charged right back at him in hopes to ram his weapon through the green-clad hero in the process. He had forgotten that Sheikhan had a sword and remembered such the hard way when his paintbrush-trident was knocked from his grip with a hard thwack. Phantom Boarova's face was then promptly punched while he was momentarily stunned from the previous attack.

"Go Wolfie!" Athena cheered as she watched the spectacle. She then proceeded to freak out a bit as the two of them were pulled out from the wall and returned to their usual, three-dimensional selves once more. The both of them groaned due to suddenly being on the ground, but Athena only helped up her partner. They both then had to hold back a dry heave as Phantom Boarvoa's Gufuu showed itself where his nose used to be.

" **YOU LITTLE WRETCHES, PREPARE TO PAY FOR THAT!** " Phantom Boarova started to charge up for a super attack...only to be hit in the proverbial bull's eye by Athena.

"I absolve the darkness in your heart!"

"A wonderful shot, my goddess."

"It helps that he decided to leave himself vulnerable to power himself up." Athena did a little bow to Sheikhan.

The Gufuu departed from Yuga and worked on trying to fly away before it was caught. The attempt was unsuccessful and was soon shoved into Sheikhan's magic bracer to prevent any further damage. One toss into the air and one "Miraculous Restoration!" later, the Navii came into being and the heroes sent it off to repair the damage of the day. Even Ezlo was turned back to normal thanks to the healing fairy dust left behind.

"Urgh...what happened?" Yuga questioned as he rubbed his nose.

"You tell us?" Sheikhan responded as he helped Yuga up while Athena helped Ezlo.

"I was…" Yuga sighed as a forlorn expression developed on his features, "I was trying to convince my boss to let something _I_ made be displayed in the museum. He said it didn't fully envelope the styles I combined, so he rejected it."

"I'm not an art critic, but was he _really_ as harsh as your wording implies?" Athena asked with a gentle tone.

Yuga looked at her with a guilty expression for a moment before answering. "W-Well...no. He said it was still lovely despite it looking more vibrant than intended. _I_ was the one who trashed it afterwards, not him." He then had a severe look of horror on his face. "I SMASHED MY PAINTING ONTO THE GROUND!"

"Easy, easy!" Sheikhan patted his shoulder. "Our little Navii friend will have fixed it by now."

" _Oh thank goodness._ " Yuga instantly calmed down at this bit of good news. He would have said more when he heard this odd beeping noise. "What was that? It wasn't a phone?"

"That would be us." Athena gave an awkward smile as she started to walk out and wave to the curators. "Keep in mind what you've learned this day, farewell!" And, once she had a bit more space, flew off.

"Don't let the critics eat ya, basically." Sheikhan summarized as he gave him both a salute and then ran off.

"I...suppose that's...true." Yuga muttered to himself as he looked to Ezlo. "Mr. Vaughan, I…"

Ezlo walked over and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "It really is a beautiful piece, Yuga. Perhaps if we get a bit more space for the modern art section, we could hang it there?"

"In due time!" Yuga beamed. "Until then, I'll be sure to create more _beautiful_ works for the world!"

"Same old, same old." Ezlo shook his head with a small, amused grin on his face.

* * *

Boarova growled and punched where the cave drawing of his latest failure had been. "Curse that cur! Curse that bird! They may have made a mockery of me today...but their luck will run out as the sands of an hourglass do!" He drew his hand back from the indent that was now there and solemnly exited the cave. "And when it does, I shall capture the moment in all its glory!"

* * *

Sheikhan Wolf had a stroke of luck on finding an empty hallway to detransform. He let out a large sigh of relief, leaned against the nearest wall and slowly slid down it. "Man that was kinda scary." His vision was invaded by his Kwami. "...I have food in my backpack, we'll get to it when we leave."

In response to this, Bleddyn just patted his nose. "Good boy."

"Thanks…?" Link wasn't sure if he was being condescending or not.

"Now, go save your princess." Bleddyn reminded as he zipped into Link's hoodie.

"AHH!" Link jumped to his feet and ran like he was fleeing from monsters on horseback. He eventually came across Ravio and Hilda, both of whom were glad to have found him in one piece and were more than glad to help with the search for Zelda. Hilda was a bit more tactful in how to do so by calling her fellow heiress up, only to end up in a bit of a giggle fit as she heard a ringtone a hallway over.

"Guys!" Zelda ran over and got them all in a hug. "You're okay!"

"How'd you avoid that art nut?" Ravio questioned as he adjusted himself so that Link could get a little closer in the group hug.

"I managed to find a decent hiding place." Zelda wasn't lying about that fact, so it didn't give her guilt about explaining such.

They were then interrupted a few moments later by a certain green-haired classmate running towards them. "You guys had me worried sick!" Saria exclaimed, her lips forming a deep frown as she placed her hands on her hips in a very unamused fashion like a parent would when speaking to their child.

"Sorry, Saria!" Ravio straightened himself out as Zelda finally ended the group hug. "We all got...caught up in...things."

"I was a painting." Hilda stated bluntly. "I couldn't go anywhere without Ravio."

"And I cried!" Ravio admitted with an odd amount of cheer.

"You dorks…" Saria shook her head. "So how're the blondies holding up? Neither of you got turned into a painting...right?"

Link shook his head. ["I just hid for a while."] He signed.

"...Zel?"

"He just hid for a while." Zelda translated. "As did I."

"Together?" Saria had a little smirk on her face.

"No." Zelda shook her head.

Saira only deflated a bit at her friend's answer. "Fiiiiiiine...so let's get going! We're all probably in trouble with the school for being gone for so long thanks to that Gufuu!" She ran ahead of them. "Last one there's a rotten cucco egg!"

"Wait up!" Ravio went after her, Link on his heels. The heiresses just sighed and shook their heads in amusement as they followed after them at their own pace.


	11. Volga

**Chapter 11: Volga**

"Don't fall asleep, we'll be there soon enough." Impa stated gently as she checked her phone. It had been a few weeks since she had gotten a letter from her old mentor, Rauru, saying that he was moving to Hyrule from his tower in Labrynna Bay in order to keep a better eye on the new Miraculous keepers. By great serendipity, or maybe some careful planning on her part, the ninja/secretary had managed to arrange to visit Rauru during a weekend where Zelda was free to come along. Her friends would be busy in their own lives as well, so they weren't available to 'kidnap' her _again_ for fun.

"Yes, Impa." Zelda stated quietly as she watched the world around her pass by from her window. She felt a bit cramped in the family silvery blue Lincoln Continental, more used to riding with Impa in the limo. Byrne was still driving them to their destination regardless of what vehicle they were using. She let out a silent sigh as she watched the bare deciduous trees and healthy evergreens move in and out of her sight. She was nervous about meeting this Rauru person since she wasn't sure how much he's heard of her exploits with Sheikhan, but wasn't too sure if she could voice it to the Athena before her about this anxiety in her heart. She trusted Impa, she really did, but opening up about the heroic side of her life...it seemed too daunting and she found herself running away from even trying.

The car soon pulled in front of an apartment complex that was a few stories high, made of lightly weathered, red brick and looked fairly welcoming. The ladies exited the car and paged that they were in the building to see Rauru. One phone call at from the receptionist's later, came an older man with very little hair on his head, but plenty of fluffy, snow white facial hair in the form of a mustache that extended into his matching sideburns. His attire was odd since he had a orange robe that looked more meant for lounging and an amazingly bright red fanny pack.

"Impa!" Rauru chortled as he came over and gave her a light hug. "It's so wonderful to see you after all these years! Come, come. I've finally finished unpacking." He started leading the way to the apartment elevator with both Impa and Zelda following. "Forgive me for taking so long coming to the city, I hope Huut hasn't burdened you with his voracious requirement of sardines."

"It helps that they're typically cheap and come in packs." Impa shrugged lightly.

"Excuse you!" Came a muffled voice from a small purse Impa had brought with her.

"Oh...right." Impa opened it up and out flew the small, brown owl Kwami himself.

"Rauru!" Huut promptly attached himself to his chosen's face. The keeper of the Owl Miraculous only chuckled in response and stroked down his back with his finger. He had to hide again when the elevator doors started to open, but opted for the fanny pack instead of Impa's purse.

A few doors down the hallway later, Rauru unlocked his and lead them inside. It was a quaint area with a decently soft rosy red carpet and soft, cream yellow walls that had a few owl paintings displayed. Aside from a loveseat upholstered with a sun themed fabric and a recliner that matched his robe's coloring near a somewhat old TV, the living room was fairly sparse of any other furniture.

"It's cozy." Impa said.

"A little less elaborate than my previous domain, but home is home. Would you two like some snacks or something to drink?"

"Yes, please." Impa nodded.

"Yes sir." Zelda nodded as well.

"Get yourself comfy while I dig around." Rauru walked off into the small kitchen area nearby, whistling a bit as he worked on snacks.

Huut took this moment to come out and explore the apartment and a few seconds later, his old protege, Brawynn, followed suit in said exploration. The two chatted about how things have been since the new holders were picked, and spoke of times past, but took on a more hushed tone when speaking of past users. Even Impa's time wasn't spoken of aloud despite her being there.

"Sorry for the wait there, still trying to get used to where I put some things." Rauru walked in with a tray of sandwiches and two bowls in one hand, and some plastic root beer bottles in the other. He offered the sandwiches to the ladies, bologna from the looks of the meat peeking out, and the bowls had mixed seeds in one and sardines in another.

"Thank you." Impa took hers with a slight bow and started to eat.

"Thank you very much." Zelda did the same as her bodyguard.

The Kwamis were quick to dive into the bowls and eat their food, Huut being a bit louder than Brawynn due to the slippery nature of sardines.

Rauru sat in his recliner after giving out the snacks and let out a small sigh while he relaxed. "I've been trying to keep up on what you and your Wolf have been up to thus far, Miss Callaghan. It helps that there's someone out there trying to keep track of everything on one of those blog sites. What was it called again…?" Rauru had to think a bit on the name. "Ah yes, the Athena and Sheikhan Post. That cucco attack seemed frightening."

"Ah...yes... _that_ certain Gufuu was something else." Zelda had a mini-flashback to earlier in the school year, on that fateful day when she realized her partner's phobia of them and his pretty legitimate reason for it. "Mr. Cucco brought out the worst in Wolfie, I'll admit…" ' _Not that I can blame him. I hate spiders with a passion and would freeze up like he did if, Sacred Realm forbid, any larger than my hand came into my presence._ '

Rauru let out a hum of thought at that. "I see. Not much was posted on that day, probably because the person running it couldn't follow you two that well."

"Yeeeeeah…" Zelda muttered.

"She's taken to being the hero quite well." Impa stated after a drink of root beer. "Of course, it helps that she's had archery experience ever since she was old enough to hold a bow and pull back the string."

"A serendipitous skill set." Rauru gave a nod. "And flying?"

"It's exhilarating!" Zelda beamed. "Sure, it might not have been the brightest of ideas to have my first flight done from my bedroom since it's a few stories up, but I just couldn't help myself to get out and feel the wind around me!"

Impa nearly choked on her sandwich upon hearing that.

"Now now, Impa. If memory serves, you purposely sought out a high place to try out your maiden flight." Rauru had a knowing smile.

"My high school,...which is...sort of higher than the mansion…" Impa frowned.

"I wouldn't be surprised if all the past Miraculous wielders did it at one point or another." Rauru chuckled.

Zelda couldn't help but giggle a bit at how Impa was being lightly scolded.

"Forgive me for backtracking in our conversation, but…" Rauru pulled out a phone a few generations old and pulled up a somewhat recent post, around when Phantom Boarova attacked. "This particular Gufuu…" He showed a blurry photo that someone had managed to take in the chaos.

"Phantom Boarova." Zelda explained. "He turned people into paintings as revenge for getting a not-so-critical art critique." She held her tongue to avoid remembering how she found Hilda's portrait.

Rauru made a long hum of thought. "It may be...you will need some help."

"But how?" Zelda asked with a knit brow. "Boarova has one Miraculous, Sheikhan has the second and I have the third. How else can we get help if all three have been claimed?"

"My dear girl, who said that there were only three Miraculous?" Rauru asked as he stood up and shuffled out to another section of the apartment.

"..." Zelda had no answer to that. "Brawynn…?"

"You never asked." Answered the blue Kwami.

"Impa…?"

"My Wolf and I never found a need to recruit others." Impa explained. "And you also never asked me either."

"O-Oh…"

Eventually Rauru returned, this time with something in his hands. It was a fairly sizable, square box that was a powerful red and covered in intricate gold swirl details. Just above the keyhole was a dazzling, circular multicolored crystal. The old man lowered himself and the box to the ground, sitting on his knees before the two. He seemed to click something and the upper half of the gem unfolded and revealed a keypad with several unmarked buttons inside. He pushed a few and then rotated the whole face of the gem, which caused the top to open with some light streaming out of it and several shelves to fold out. Each one held a smaller chest that rested on velvet, which matched the colors of the Miraculous tucked inside. "Take a look, young heroine."

Zelda slowly put her food aside and joined Rauru on the floor. She looked at each chest very carefully, along with the colors of the velvet they sat on. Unlike the box she found Brawynn in, these ones mimicked the chest that hid them, but had less gold detailing and their gems seemed to act as the keyholes. "Amazing…!" She breathed out quietly. She found that 4 shelves had no chests upon them. "A powerful red, a sky blue, an airy green and…" She couldn't quite make out the fourth color.

"A powder blue." Impa leaned over enough to take a look.

"Ah yes...poor Lynn went missing a some years back…" Rauru explained sadly.

"How?" Zelda asked as she felt both avian Kwami land on her shoulders.

Silence.

"Another story for another day." Rauru finally said as he started to fold up the shelves.

"Wait." Zelda hesitantly held out a hand.

"Hmm?"

"...Would it be okay to take one?" Zelda looked as surprised as the other two at this.

"That's only when there's emergencies!" Huut explained frantically.

"But coming out here would take a long time, even as Athena." Brawynn pointed out cooly.

"Rauru, you wouldn't let her...right?" Huut asked with a ruffle of his feathers.

"Miss Zelda Callaghan," Rauru looked at her with a very serious expression, "do you believe that something may come that requires a third user on the battlefield?"

Zelda folded her hands in front of her as a means to avoid gripping them with anxiousness. "Yes, I do. I can't say when or how, but...trouble will be on the horizon, too much of it for Sheikhan Wolf and I to take on ourselves."

"Usually I'd wait for the right time...but as Brawynn stated, it'd be too long to come out here no matter how you try." Rauro stoked his facial hair as he let out a hum of thought. "You may pick _one_ for now - on the condition that you have the user return it after they've used it."

"Why do they have to return it?" Zelda questioned with a bit of a dumbfounded expression upon her face.

"With the Miraculous of Power giving Boarova his powers, it isn't safe to keep any others out in the open." Rauru explained, something in his voice implying that something **bad** will happen if Boarova had more than just one Miraculous Stone in his possession.

Zelda gulped down a bit as she gave a nod. "I understand, sir." Doubt was now etched into her features. ' _Should I really take one now? I don't want to endanger anyone with a careless mistake. Lynn's disappearance hit Mister Rauru pretty hard._ ' She thought while her gaze blanked out on the open chest before her.

"Miss Zelda?" Rauru asked gently.

"Ah! Uh, s-sorry." Zelda snapped out of it. "I was just...thinking. A-About the Miraculous to take...or if I should."

"She shouldn't, plain and simple!" Huut huffed. "Not unless she has an idea of what to pick! It's not like setting things on fire will always solve your problems."

"... _Is_ there a Kwami with control over fire?" Zelda asked. She saw various warm colored shelves but wasn't sure which it would be.

"Scarlet-colored shelf." Rauru nodded.

Huut let out a groan. "That's just like these young heroes, they think fire solves _every_ problem." He muttered while becoming an angry puff ball of feathers. At this point, he decided to perch on Rauru's head and just glare at the young heiress like a disgruntled cat.

Zelda looked for the aforementioned scarlet velvet shelf and picked up the chest on it. "I'll take good care of…"

"Finntan." Rauru and Brawynn said in near-unison.

"Finntan." Zelda repeated with a little smile.

After the chest was put away and things turned to more pleasant conversation for a spell, eventually Impa and Zelda had to head home when it hit the mid-afternoon. Impa instructed Zelda to go ahead of her as she wanted to say one more thing to Rauru, but said Zelda would have no interest in what would be said. Once the young heiress was out of earshot, they looked at each other with fairly serious expressions. Huut's presence on Rauru's head by no means lightened the mood.

"Do you know who her Wolf is?" Rauru questioned with a somber tone.

"Oh, you're gonna laugh…" Impa crossed her arms and shook her head. "He's my old friend's kid, Zelda's childhood friend, _my_ protege _and_ he's crushing on her. Poor guy can't speak a word to save his life, since he has selective mutism around her and her only."

"An interesting combination that Bleddyn has decided to go with, for sure."

"The cub's probably driven him nuts by now." Huut mumbled.

"Try to arrange for him to visit, it's important that they both know _of_ me, but cannot know that they _both_ know me." Rauru instructed.

"He has less activities in his life compared to Zelda, I just need to ask his folks if I can borrow him for a morning." Impa assured with a firm nod.

"Very well. You don't need to bring him immediately, just soon."

"Will do." Impa shook his hand, hugged him and then headed out to the car where Zelda and Byrne were waiting to head home.

* * *

The weekend ended all too soon as school began once more on Monday. There was catching up, cramming in and attempting to get a few more extra Zs in being done for every student. Except for two, who were discussing something as far away as possible from other students and teachers. This was best done in the creative arts wing of the school, as there wasn't much activity first thing in the morning, at least until everyone rushed to their respective classes.

"So, _Groosie_ dear…" Cia looked like she was the cat that ate the canary as she held her phone in her palm, one recently manicured nail tapping on the casing that surrounded it. "We both know why we're here…"

Groose seemed oddly small under her gaze. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You caught me, recorded it and I want it deleted!"

"Ah, ah, ah." Cia tutted. "One wrong move, or rude commentary, and it's going up this very second. You don't want _everyone_ to see you make a fool of yourself singing-"

"SHHHHHHH!" Groose looked around frantically in case someone happened to hear them. "Don't say it!"

"Very well then." Cia mock pouted. "In which case...how good are you at spray painting and squating at the same time?"

"Uhh…" Groose gave a large shrug. "Never had to do that before, so I dunno."

"Guess we'll find out then." Cia lead him along down the vacant hallway. "So, as you know, the first school dance is coming up in a few weeks…"

"I'm so pumped, I'm gonna show off my moves!" Groose flexed a bit.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever." Cia rolled her eyes. "But! I need to make my grand gown the most amazing to ever grace this school!"

"But you've got a few more years and dances to do that…" Groose grumbled with a confused and mildly grumpy expression on his face.

"So I need _Zellie_ out of the way! Then Link's eyes will be on me all night~!" Cia finished up that statement with her signature laugh.

" _Seriously_ …?" Groose groaned under his breath.

"Or the video goes online!" Cia threatened.

"Okay, okay! I'll do the thing, geeze." Groose put his hands up in a non-defensive way.

"Excellent~! Now, here's what I need you to do for a week or two…"

And so began Groose's task: collecting pictures of Zelda in various poses, various colors of spray paint, some disposable latex gloves, and photographing a couple walls at certain points of the day if and when possible. There was a knot in his stomach with each picture taken on his phone, but Cia's threat loudly rang in his ears whenever he had second thoughts about it. It was only after he had sent all the files to Cia that he had a bit of peace with himself. But he got curious…

"So...what do you even need all of this stuff for anyway?" Groose asked at lunch once he managed to find her after finishing chowing down on his fattoush salad and lamb shawarma.

"Mmm, you'll see." Was Cia's mildly cryptic reply. "At about tomorrow morning."

"Do you watch soaps after school or something?" Groose asked bluntly.

"Of course not! Those are for _old ninnies_ with nothing better to do on their social security checks!" Cia looked at him like he had just punched a baby animal.

Groose huffed but figured to just wait and see at this point. He let her be and went back to hang with whomever seemed done eating to kill time. What he failed to notice as he left was the sly, fox-like grin on her face and the mischief in her eyes…

Come the next day, Groose finally figured out what all the spray paint and gloves were for: he was going to spray paint a wall in the main hall. He had to get up super early, which messed with his internal clock and pre-school time a bit, but he managed it nonetheless. There seemed to be no students present, let alone any teachers out and about. Cia was quick to find him with a few quick texts and began the deed. She was quite demanding in how much he had to lower himself for the deed, but she at least kept quiet enough to prevent getting caught. After a couple photos taken by Cia on her phone, he was instructed to dispose of the evidence and stay away from the crime until further notice.

Groose ended up doing some light running in the empty gym to keep his mind off of what he did. Aside from getting a good cardio workout in before things got busy, it really didn't do much to help that knot in his stomach that was coming back. When he started to head for class, that's when he heard about what his work had done: Zelda was going to be banned from the school dance! Apparently, Cia had managed to provide photographic evidence of Zelda doing the deed and, through some supposed begging on Zelda's part, would still come to classes but could not participate at the dance. The icing on this cake was that the embarrassing evidence that Cia had on Groose was also posted online, which he confronted her about once school was over for the day…" _YOU LIED!_ "

"And your point?" Cia was either playing it cool, or knew this was going to happen, and had prepared herself for this.

"I get we're not friends, but are you so disconnected from everything you think that going back on someone is okay!?"

"Did I ever _say_ I would keep my end of the bargain?" Cia retorted with a sly yet icy smirk.

Groose has to stop and think about that. His face shifted from confused, focused and then slowly changed to realization. "You didn't. Not once."

"It's your own fault for not having any legal binding." Cia had a devilish smile.

Groose growled. Steam started to come out of his ears. He wanted to punch something, anything, to get this anger out! He had enough reason in him to know lashing out at Cia would get him in trouble - maybe doubly so if she ratted him out as the true perpetrator. All he could do was leave in a huff and work out his emotions the only way he knew how: weight lifting.

* * *

Within the darkness of a cavern, the soft clicking of metallic shoes could be heard walking through it and to the fire that was slowly glowing and coming to life. "My dear bishop has managed to corner a pawn once more." Boarova turned to the drawings on the wall and strolled around while absentmindedly twirling his trident. "One with a more physical prowess at that. Now, what could match it in speed, intelligence and ruthlessness?" His eyes then fell upon a carving that seemed to be a humanoid creature, baring dragon-like features and was spewing what appeared to be flames from its maw, while wielding a long, trident-like spear that somewhat matched its physical liking. " _Perfect._ " He held out his hand and summoned forth the picture, it soon taking shape into a Gufuu that had a burning fire shining within its eye. "Make sure not to fail me as the others have." He watched it fly away and began to cackle with a disturbing and devious grin to match his mood. "Go forth, and claim another victim from the ashes of betrayal!"

* * *

Today was not Groose's day. Even after pumping iron and doing a light walk to cool down after, the fury in him hadn't subsided. If the school had a boxing team, he'd _so_ use one of their punching bags to try and see if _that_ would help! Wherever he walked, people parted due to seeing the anger just radiating like him like an flaming aura. At some point during his exiting of the building, he bumped into Ravio and his bros and practically shoved the poor purple guy, which caused him to elicit strangled squeaks as he flailed a bit in attempt to try and find his balance again.

"What's his damage?" Ravio grumbled as he straightened himself out.

"It's hard to say with Groose." Darunia sighed.

"Lemme see." Link speed walked after him. "Hey, Groose! What's going on man?"

Groose looked back at the shorter boy with an uncharastically furious look in his eyes. "None of your business, that's what!" And then continued to huff and puff until he was out of the building.

"Ooh no…" Link pinched the bridge of his nose with a long sigh. "This looks like Cia's handiwork…" From his hood, he heard a soft wolfish noise of agreement. He turned to his friends. "I just remembered, I gotta go find Zelda for something! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" And then he was off.

"...You think he's gonna yell at Cia before or after?" Ravio asked. His only reply from Darunia was a shrug.

Link looked around once he was outside. Despite Groose being so big and having such a large, pointed pompadour, he was still easy to lose with enough distance put between them. "Oh great...maybe he's at the parking lot?" He started to run there.

Hilda was nearby and was reading under the shade of a tree when she thought she heard someone running. She looked up to see a blur of green. "Link? What's going on?" On hearing no response back, she put a bookmark in and followed after him as best as she could. "Whatever could get him to run so quickly...aside from Zelda?" She then started to wonder why he was headed to the parking lot and followed as discreetly as possible.

Groose almost made it to his car. He almost managed to keep it together. He almost could have said that Cia didn't get under skin, but he unfortunately melted down in the form of a roar when his keys slipped from his grip and hit the ground with a small 'clink!'. During this time, the Gufuu spotted him and slipped in quickly and easily through his pompadour. His body became rather limp as a mask of black scales formed around his face.

" **Good afternoon to you, young sir. You may know me by my reputation from a few of your classmates...but what they conveniently forget to explain is that I offer you the power to get back at those who have wronged you! In your case, I can amplify not only your strength, but your speed and dexterity as well, in order to seek your revenge. I only ask that you retrieve the Miraculous of Athena and her cur, Sheikhan Wolf. Do we have a deal, my boy?"**

"YEAH!" Groose didn't hesitate.

" **Very well then! Go forth, and return the favor of those who do you wrong, Dragon Knight Volga!** "

Groose's body was soon covered by a thick layer of black scales, which soon reformed his outward appearance. Track jacket and jeans were replaced by blood red armor with a reptile scale design imprinted into it, his glorious pompadour was now hidden away under a helmet that had a dragon's skull on the top and covered the rest of his face with protective plating. A large, flame-colored ponytail materialized through the skull, mimicking the motions of fire as it blew in the wind. The final touches were clawed gauntlets and matching, red-armored boots. A spear that resembled his new aesthetic soon appeared in his hand and shot off a bit of fire from the spearhead as it did so. "PREPARE TO FEEL THE BURN, CIA!"

' _I'm too late!_ ' Link had only gotten there after the transformation as he didn't know where Groose typically parked. He almost would have gotten ran over by Volga as well, was it not for a timely pull from Hilda behind the cover of a larger car. "Gyaa! Oh, hey Hilda."

"Hello. I take it another classmate has been possessed by a Gufuu?"

"Yeah...it was Groose this time. I have a bad feeling it was Cia's fault."

"Has it not been thus far?" Hilda asked with a straight face.

"...Fair. Might wanna text Ravio and give him the heads up."

"Whatever do you plan on doing if you're not the one texting him about this?" Hilda questioned as Link got up and started running.

"Find Cia, I guess!?" Link hoped that was a good enough lie.

"Be careful!" Hilda sighed to herself and texted her boyfriend of what would come. She could have _sworn_ she heard his noises of panic despite him being in the school, last she checked anyway, and her being out in the parking lot. "It may be a good idea for the police to come as well, at least for crowd control?" She dialed the number and hoped they would take the claim seriously.

Link managed to find a big tree to duck behind. "Please tell me we can contact Athy somehow."

Bleddyn zipped out from his hiding spot with a thoughtful hum. "Only thing I can figure is to howl extra loud and try to call her on the Miraculous later. Sound good?"

"It'll do." Link sighed while shaking his head before snapping into hero mode. "Bleddyn, time to howl!" One transformation sequence and an extra loud and long howl later, Sheikhan Wolf was out to save the day!

"Sheikhan Wolf!" Hilda ran over to him. "He went into the school!" She pointed to the exact direction she saw Volga go off in.

"Thank you, miss." Sheikhan gave her a polite bow and ran into the school. Sure, he knew where Volga ran into, but he still needed to be polite to a friend, heroic persona or not.

* * *

Zelda had been brought home long before the events that were currently transpiring at school even began. The good news is that her father, Impa and Byrne believed in her when she had to explain herself about the graffiti. The bad news is that there wasn't much they could do to fix what had happened, aside from comfort her. Said comfort was in the form of some soft plush toys and fancy cherry chocolates as she worked on her homework, Brawynn perched on the top of her head and offering some advice on how to answer a problem when it seemed Zelda was stuck. It was only when they heard a faint howling that they realized that something was wrong.

"Sounds like Sheikhan needs some assistance." Brawynn removed herself from Zelda's head and waited for her charge to rise.

"Out of curiosity, is that what his howl is saying?" Zelda asked while scooting her chair back and then getting up.

"More or less."

"Very well then." Zelda hurried to her window and opened up the biggest window. "Brawynn, spread your wings!" And out Athena flew.

* * *

Sheikhan Wolf had managed to get people out of the building. He even managed to equip some with fire extinguishers he could nab from the science labs. But this Gufuu was more than a handful by himself. Thanks to Cia getting Groose so angry that he'd get Boarova's attention, the wielder of the Miraculous of Power ended up picking something that complimented the seething rage way, _way_ too well. Volga barely left any openings to attack, could breathe fire, _and_ transform his hands into dragon claws.

This was _not_ Sheikhan Wolf's afternoon. How would he explain this to his folks once he got home? He couldn't even focus on how to work that out as he had to avoid some fireballs being sent his way. "Where's Athy?!" He asked himself under his breath, hoping that he wouldn't end up singed anytime soon. "Any day here!"

"It's useless to fight, cur." Volga stated as he morphed his free hand into a dragon's claw. "Once I exact my revenge on that _traterious wench_ , your Miraculous Stone is next!" He had a wicked smirk as an idea came to him. "Or maybe I'll simply cut your wrist off and save myself some time later!"

Sheikhan made a frantic whimpering noise as he found himself having to get creative with his shield to block the flurry of spear attacks hitting him. "Ever consider taking a chill pill?" He retorted with a small smirk. He regretted that remark within a few nanoseconds when he found himself getting pushed back with a few sharp jabs. ' _Right, no witty banter for this fight. Got it._ ' "Zu'u praag hiif!"

"No amount of gibberish will save you!" Volga declared with a hard strike that caused the green-clad hero to be send flying, his shield being separated from him in the process. He ran forward, flame developing along the spearhead, ready to claim his prize when he thought he heard something flying at him. In the blink of an eye, he used the momentum to change targets and sliced an oncoming arrow through the arrowhead, and cleaved the shaft. It then dematerialized into blue, glitter-like dust at his feet.

"Uh-oh." Athena breathed quietly as she witnessed that. She soon found that _she_ was Volga's target and worked on flying away. This was difficult because Volga also sprouted wings and quickly caught up to her, grabbing her by the ankle and then throwing her into the nearest wall. Her Miraculous' magic kept her from getting anything like a shattered skeletal structure or worse, however, she had gotten the wind knock out of her and was attempting to catch her breath.

Volga stood before her and grasped her by the base of her wings to force her to her feet. "Now, if I was a little broken birdie girl, where would my Miraculous be?" He looked her over and eventually settled on her choker. "There it is…" He plunged his spear into the ground for the time being and used his newly freed hand to try and take it away from her. He found his task incomplete as he felt cold steel pressed against his neck.

"Release her. _Gently._ " Sheikhan's tone was _extremely_ serious.

Volga growled in response. "Hard to set her down with a blade so close, wouldn't you agree, Wolf?"

Sheikhan Wolf made an angry grunt in response to that. He slowly removed his weapon from the other's throat, and then quickly took the spear and threw it as hard as he could. While his opponent was busy reclaiming his weapon, he gathered up Athena into his arms and ran off to help her recollect herself. Once they were safe in an abandoned classroom, far from any sort of window, he set her down and an animalistic whine escaped his lips while looking her over.

"Wolfie?" Athena responded hoarsely. "Where...are we?"

"I ran us into an empty classroom, so you could recover from that blow." He explained while occasionally looking to the door. "I don't know how much time we have before he gets us, one way or another, out of here."

"If that's the case, we need to get moving." Athena worked on trying to get up, but was gently pushed back down by her partner. "Sheik,...my suit prevented anything major in terms of damage. I'm fine, really!"

"Just a few more minutes, my goddess?" Sheikhan asked while, unintentionally, making big, begging puppy eyes.

"...Fine. A few more minutes." Athena laid down and hoped he didn't see how badly she was blushing. ' _Curse those blue eyes and genuine concern!_ ' "But you're to rest as well."

"Yes _mom._ " Sheikhan rolled his eyes a bit and laid as close as her wings would allow. He actually did start to doze off eventually due to the now quiet atmosphere around them.

' _Just like a real dog…huh._ ' Athena sat up enough to observe him. ' _He has such long eyelashes…_ ' Her face flushed a bit and looked away from him. ' _Don't be such a creep, Zelda!_ ' Her mental repremends were interrupted when she started to hear voices. She got a bit tense and got up as carefully and quietly as possible to see if she could find the origin of them. She relaxed only a little bit when she pieced together that neither sounded masculine, which meant Volga wasn't nearby thank goodness, but now she had to figure out what was going on.

"And your irresponsibility is going to get us endangered, AGAIN!" Hilda remarked rather loudly as she tailed after Cia, who was trying to find a hiding place after her impromptuly ended history tutoring and the beginning stages of damages to the school.

"No way you can pin this on me!" Cia retorted with a shrill tone.

"I heard Groose scream your name after he transformed! Whatever you did, it's _your fault_ for Volga!"

"It's not _my_ fault that he can't control his temper." Cia huffed with her nose turned in the air.

"Funny. Darunia's pretty good at keeping his, even after you broke his geode...look at how _that_ ended up." Hilda crossed her arms and gave the other heiress an indignant stare. "Yup. Ravio told me what, or rather _who_ , caused the Fyrus incident afterwords."

"That was different, he had a bunch of fake rubies! Who would be proud of fakes?" Cia hissed as she crossed her arms as well.

" _You_ seem pretty proud to be surrounded by fake friends." Hilda stated in a cool tone of voice.

Cia stared at her with wide eyes and an unreadable expression. "What...did you say?"

It was at this point Athena decided to step out to break up the potential cat fight. "It would be best to keep your voices down, lest Volga hears you and decides to use you as bait."

"Athena!" Hilda gasped softly and looked like she just met her favorite celebrity. "It's been nearly two months since I last saw you in person, how are you?"

' _We just saw each other today._ ' Athena had to suppress a giggle. "It's good to see you again, Miss Driscoll."

"Please, just Hilda is fine!" Hilda had such a big smile on her face.

"And what am _I_ , chopped liver?" Cia snarled as she looked at the two of them.

' _Yes._ ' Athena thought with a mental sigh.

"Where's your partner? Is he okay?" Hilda questioned with a worried expression on her face.

"He's fine, I promise. I'm just having him rest a bit for fighting Volga before I came."

"Typical of sidekicks, they slack off and then swoop in for the glory at the last second." Cia rolled her eyes with disgust, but soon regretted that comment on seeing how icy Athena's eyes could look.

"Hilda...I believe I heard you say today's Gufuu issue is due to this one, yes?" Athena asked slowly and evenly.

"Yes, Athena." Hilda nodded and gave Cia a slightly smug look.

"Could you hide her away for the time being, just in case?" Athena then leaned over and whispered where to hide her to her friend.

"Oh, an excellent idea!" Hilda beamed. She then promptly grabbed Cia by both wrists and dragged her off. "Come on Cia, time to hide you before the school's nothing but rubble and ashes!"

Cia screeched for a little while about her treatment until another cold glare from the winged warrior shut her up entirely. She went more silently, but was twice as grumpy now.

"And now...to figure out what to do next." Athena sighed as she looked back at where she left her partner slumbering. "Maybe...it's time." She went back and wrote a note she left tucked into his belt. After that, she worked on getting out and flying home to grab the Miraculous of Finntan. "Hopefully, this works…" She sighed as she flew back. She took this time to think about who to give it to; it was soon evident that many of her classmates would have been home by now, one way or another, or hiding out for good reason. It was only after going back to collect Sheikhan Wolf, that her choice was made thanks to Hilda having pieced together which room she came from, and was keeping an eye out on Sheikhan.

"Ah, Athena!" Hilda was both surprised and elated on her return. "I was just...with Volga around and you having kind of vanished, I uh…"

"It's okay, Hilda." Athena gave her an assuring smile. "Thank you for keeping an eye on my partner." She looked over and found him still asleep. "...Huh. Never figured he was such a heavy sleeper." Then she looked back to her. "I have one more favor to ask of you…" She held up the little chest and held it to her. "Hilda Driscoll, this is the Miraculous of Finntan, the Kwami of Fire and Reason. You will use her and her Miraculous for the greater good and assist Sheikhan Wolf and I on this mission, if you are willing to accept this great responsibility and protect the Miraculous from evil."

"M...Me?" Hilda questioned as she looked between the small chest and Athena. "But I was turned into...Boarova controlled me and…"

"Have no doubts, I believe you have the heart." Athena sounded extremely confident in this. "Anything can be twisted into a shadow of itself, it's what we do afterwards that defines us."

Hilda looked at it once more. "Well, if...if you say so…"

"I _know_ so. I have the Miraculous of Wisdom and Light for a reason."

Hilda looked a bit more reassured on hearing that, carefully grabbed the chest and opened it up. She was blinded for a few seconds due to the brilliant red orb of light that emerged from it and flew around her a few times before settling in front of her face. She found it was a small creature with a fiery red body, small purple claws on her hands and feet that glowed like bright candles, two tiny, slightly curved horns that also had a soft purple glow to them, a flowy tail that had a gradient of red to a beautiful violet-purple, and a pair of golden-eyes that seemed gentle, yet stern at the same time. "Whoooa...a...a tiny dragon!?"

"Indeed. And who might you be?" Inquired the small dragonic Kwami.

"I'm Hilda...you're Finntan then? Athena said your name, s-so…"

"That I am." Finntan looked to Athena and gave a polite bow to her before turning to Hilda once more. "I have a feeling my summoning has come under dire circumstances. I'll need to give you a brief summary on how to become my user: Tiamat." She hovered over her Miraculous, a pair of earrings that looked like 5-petaled flowers made out of pezzottaite gems, but on closer inspection they were actually dragon scales. "Wear these and say 'Finntan, ignite your flames!' to begin your transformation. Your weapon comes in the form of a staff that will also give you wings to fly. It's...difficult to manage both forms, so don't do such until you're more adept. My attack is 'Shining Flame,' be mindful of when and how to use it, as the Miraculous will be out of power shortly after its execution and I'll need food to recharge. Any questions?"

"Nobody but Athena knows of my secret identity?" Hilda just wanted to double-check.

"Correct."

Athena casually took a step back and turned around so Hilda could transform in peace.

Hilda carefully took out the earrings and placed one in her ear lobe. She expected some sort of minor pain from the posts of them, but found there wasn't any. She tapped on it once just to make sure it was there and found that it was. After getting the second earring in, she heard an odd chime, but due to no reaction from Athena, it seemed that it was all in Hilda's head.

"Finntan, ignite your flames!" Finntan entered the right earring, which turned both of them into a glorious, fiery red garnet. In a dazzling display of golden amber light, Hilda found her dark violet tunic dress, black leggings and blue-violet ballet flats replaced with a purple, sleeveless asymmetrical tunic that was longer in the back and resembled Finntan's tail. She also gained a red underlayer that supplied bishop sleeves and the leggings of the outfit. Her face was covered with a purple domino mask and had barrett clips in her hair that resembled her Kwami's horns as well. Her hair was then put up into a flat hair braid that ended in a ponytail with the tips of her hair becoming a flaming scarlet. The finishing touches were golden bracers on her wrists and metallic shoes of the same color that went up to just below her knees, with little dragon talons on the tips.

"Welcome to the team, Tiamat." Athena had such a big, proud smile on her face.

"I'm...a...superhero!" Tiamat squealed and spun around to get as best a look at herself as she could. "And I can fly?!" She gave her wings a few flaps, just for testing, not enough to actually take flight.

"Who can fly?" Sheikhan yawned as he began to sat up. He needed a moment to process this red and purple superhero before him. "Who…"  
"Sheikhan Wolf, this is Tiamat, user of the Miraculous of Fire and Reason." Athena explained quickly.

"Ooh...okay, cool." Sheikhan got to his feet and shook hands with his new partner. "A pleasure to meet you, dragoness."

"Likewise." Tiamat smiled a little.

"Now let's get going!" Athena lead the charge out of the classroom with her teammates close behind her.

The good news is that Volga, despite being made from rage, wasn't for senseless destruction. The school was still intact, but everyone who had the misfortune to still be there at the time of possession were hiding in whatever rooms they could. Anyone who dared to take a peek outside noticed the third hero among them, which began to generate whispers of excitement and curiosity on who they could be. The only one who seemed bold enough to even step outside was Darunia. "Greetings, heroes." He looked rather worried and solemn as he approached.

"What's troubling you?" Athena questioned with a worried tone.

"It's my friend…" Darunia scratched the back of his neck. "Ravio, the guy in purple you saved before? He, uh…"

"He what?" Tiamat asked softly.

"He was recently texting his girlfriend, Hilda, to get out of the building...but never got a response. He went looking for her. If it's possible, could you-"

"We'll find him, promise!" Sheikhan interrupted, the heroines nodding in agreement.

Darunia was about to thank them when a thundering roar reverberated from the athletics-focused part of the school.

"The gym!" Tiamat stated as she started to run.

"Why would he go to the gym?" Athena muttered as she followed suit.

"Maybe the guy under the Gufuu's a jock type?" Sheikhan knew the answer, but didn't want to give himself away.

While they conversed, Tiamat tried to see how she could fly. She'd take little jumps and try to make her wings flap for lift, but so far it just seemed to extend her jumping arc.

And then a very loud, very panicky "NOT THE FACE!" rang through the hall.

All three recognized that voice: Ravio!

' _Dude, why!?_ ' Sheikhan thought as he switched to his Pegasus Boots to move faster.

' _Ravio, just run!_ ' Athena started flying.

' _Hang on honey bunny!_ ' Tiamat's attempts to take flight weren't working currently, so she just switched to using her superpowered stamina to sprint.

"Wh-What'd you do with Hilda!?" Ravio demanded through his shaking voice.

"I've done nothing, my target is Cia! Out of the way, you crying chinchilla!" Volga was about to bat Ravio out of the way with a dragon arm when he found an arrow hit the back of his hand instead. "Rrraahh!"

"Leave him alone!" Athena declared, bow in hand, as she stood at the gym entrance door.

Sheikhan used this moment to scoop up his bro and move him out of danger. "Hide. We've got this."

"No arguments from me on that!" Ravio scampered into the boy's locker room, only peeking his head out once Sheikhan ran to fight with Volga once again.

Meanwhile, Tiamat was conflicted on whether to attempt to use her staff or continue to try and figure out a way to take flight to possibly give them some extra leverage against the dragonic villain, who appeared to be flightless. For now she tried to see if she could find any weak points to exploit or a means to distract Volga to help her teammates. Her thought process was interrupted when Volga summoned wings of his own and, not only flew out of direct attacking range, but also used his weight and strength to divebomb his staff into the ground. A shockwave of fire was sent out and knocked them all a good several feet backwards; they were only spared any burn damage thanks to the magic of their respective Miraculous.

" _You._ " Volga stalked to Tiamat with his staff positioned in such a way that he could strike with one fell swoop. "There can only be one dragon here."

"NEYYHH!" A sudden Ravio with a hockey stick whapped Volga on the back of his helmet.

Volga just slowly turned around and looked down at him. "...Seriously?"

Ravio squeaked and braced himself for impact. He felt the oncoming danger looming when he felt something else. He found himself being lifted off the ground for a few seconds before falling back down and rolling, out of harm's way thanks to the dragonic heroine. "I'm alive?! Ow, what's poking my ribs?" He soon found the source to be one of the dragoness heroine's wings.

Tiamat on the other hand, let out a soft groan as she moved to sit up. "That did not go the way I planned it to…"

"But ya got me outta trouble, thanks! Er...what's your name, miss?"

"Tiamat." She said while straightening herself out.

They both locked eyes for a moment, a spark of familiarity in Ravio's mind while looking at those blazing ruby eyes. Their moment was put to a halt when Sheikhan suddenly stood in front of them with his shield and blocked an oncoming swipe from above.

"Exchange thanks later, get him to safety for now!" Sheikhan instructed while conducting a bit of wind to act as cover.

"Y-Yeah!"

Tiamat nodded and quickly took advantage of the generated wind to grab onto Ravio and spread her wings to take flight, aiming to hopefully get Ravio somewhere Volga couldn't reach. Not only did she finally figure out how to fly thanks to Wolf's help, but she also managed to get Ravio to safety via the elevated running track. "The door is literally right over there, just keep going." She pointed to the door on their right. "Why were you even trying to deal with a Gufuu like _this_ to begin with?"

"I thought...well, he's the dragon, my girlfriend's an heiress - which is basically like a modern-day princess. Fairy tale logic dictates that he _might_ have kidnapped her in the process of enacting his revenge on Cia? He screamed about that a few times. She wasn't texting so I, uh...p-panicked."

' _Oh right, Darunia explained earlier…as conditional as that explanation is, it makes sense Ravio would think that._ ' Tiamat sighed. "We'll find her _if_ Volga hid her away, okay?"

"Okay!" Ravio nodded rapidly and then scampered for the exit. He gave one last look back at his dragonic savior, that weird inkling that he somehow knew her itching in the back of his mind. He would have asked was it not for a fireball having shot up into the sky; he took that as a sign to run far, far away and did so.

"Whew." Tiamat ducked a bit when the fireball came up. "Hmm...well, Finntan _did_ say it'd be hard to summon my staff while flying. She didn't say anything about tactical falling." She took a few steps back, jumped over the railing, reached for her wings that turned into her staff, and let loose her Miraculous' attack. "Shining Flame!" A magic circle materialized before her and shot forth a glorious dragon made out of swirling, bright fire and light. She swore she heard it roar as it flew forward at her target, causing Volga to go airborne due to the force of it knocking him down so hard he bounced back. It also cracked his helmet in the process, not enough to break it off completely, but it could come loose with another good hit.

"Sheik, your item! While he's reeling from this!" Athena stated while keeping an eye on Tiamat's landing. ' _Please stick the landing, please stick the landing! Oh I'm a horrible friend, I put my friend in danger. She doesn't know how to fly! I don't know if I can help her because dragon wings and bird wings are different enough that the mechanics would be difficult to explain!_ ' She panicked and caught Tiamat herself with a few strong and swift flaps from her wings. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Tiamat nodded. "Panicked from the lack of flight on my part?"

"...A little." ' _A LOT._ '

"I'll figure it out. Maybe when we're not in imminent danger." Tiamat assured.

Athena nodded before glancing back at Sheikhan Wolf. "Anytime now, Sheik!"

Sheikhan quickly snapped out of his stupor from the new Miraculous move at this. "Oh, right-" He then quickly reached inside his pouch. "Item Charge!" ' _Please be something useful, please be something useful!'_ A quick flash and a few seconds later, he pulled out a blue, staff-like item that seemed to resemble the Ice Rod that had been wielded against Rabbit Beamer some battles ago, but upon closer inspection, the end was decorated with a large teardrop surrounded by small clouds, rather than an icicle. "...I guess staffs are the new weapon these days?"

"How about you just swing it and find out what it does before we lose our opening?" Tiamat suggested bluntly as she was set down on her feet.

"As you wish, dragoness!" Sheikhan gave a small twirl to his weapon and launched out a swirling pillar of water half the height of the gym. " _Yes!_ " He would have started to happy dance if Volga wasn't such a huge threat.

Athena watched their opponent land in the water and go through the rinse cycle with a small yet satisfied grin on her face. As Volga had an ungraceful landing onto the gym floor, her arrow vision kicked in and pointed out the cracks on his helmet. "Ahh...idea~!" She quickly flew over to Sheikhan and whispered her plan into his ear.

"Uh-huh. Mm-hmm. Oooh, excellent idea my goddess! Need some wind to help with your plan?"

"Just a little, Wolfie." Athena got herself ready for launch.

"Up, up and away!" Sheikhan conducted the wind once more and launched the blue heroine into the air.

Athena put as much distance between herself and the ground as she could, turned her wings into her bow and aimed at Volga's head. ' _Just a little Firelight!_ ' She thought as the tip of her arrow glowed like a newly lit candle. She made a mental note that there's a degree of psychic connection for that spell as she launched it.

Volga groaned when he felt something hit his helmet. The dragon aspect kept him safe from feeling the heat directly against his skull, but he did snap the shaft with his thumb to make it vanish. He readied himself to attack once she landed...

Sheikhan used this momentary distraction to make another water tower and sent it at Volga. He had such a huge smile on his face as he watched him go up in the torrent and helplessly flail around at the top. "He can't even _fathom_ our plan."

"Let me _dampen_ his mood even further!" Tiamat exclaimed as she then took this opportunity to deploy her own set of wings, swooping up towards Volga before quickly changing her means of flight to her staff, and promptly shattering the dragon knight's helmet into pieces to expose the afformented Gufuu. Fortunately, she wasn't too high off the ground and was able to stick the landing perfectly this time.

' _Hilda makes puns?_ ' Athena wondered as she put her wings back and landed beside her. "Excellent work furthering the plan, Tia."

"Like you said, Fire _and_ Reason." Tiamat had a confident grin on her face and a pose to match.

Volga let out a primal roar of wrath as his brain finally processed what had happened to him in such a short amount of time. "YOU'LL ALL DIE FOR THIS, AND THEN CIA'S CORPSE SHALL LAY IN YOUR BLOOD!" The Gufuu's eye had a dangerous gleam in it as Volga charged at the heroes, his whole body transforming into a full-blown dragon and letting out an explosion of flames in a last ditch effort take all three of them down.

"Scatter!" Athena flew up.

"Ayiee!" Tiamat flew to the left.

Sheikhan gave his Pegasus Boots quite the workout in order to dodge the incoming flames. ' _Need a plan, need a plan, need to get close enough to Athy for a plan! Or make one up myself, whichever comes first!_ ' Unfortunately, time was not on his side, as Volga continued his charge, which caused Sheikhan to raise an impromptu pillar of water to act as a makeshift shield from the flames. " _Sea_ ya later!"

Athena groaned and put her face in her hands at that. " _Woooooooolf._ "

' _And I thought Ravio's_ _were bad._ ' Tiamat shook her head in bemusement.

Volga hit the ground with such force that there was a shockwave that caused Sheikhan to lose his footing and fall on his butt. Tiamat had been flung back and rolled a little, but was okay. Athena was still in the air and used this moment to take out her bow once more, going for another freefall shot as she felt the light magic surging through herself and her weapon. "I absolve the darkness in your heart!" Time seemed to slow down as she let loose the arrow and only seemed to go back to normal once she put her wings back on and landed.

A mighty cry escaped Volga's lips on the arrow making contact, then his form dissolved away and left a very confused Groose behind. The teen flailed a bit on seeing what possessed him and backed away from it. "Yo, stay back!"

Sheikhan was quick to capture the little nuisance in a small water tower. "Enjoy the spin cycle!"

Athena lined herself up and let loose her second spell. "Miraculous Restoration!" Her aim was true and the now Navii leaped from the water like a dolphin.

"Sorry for the bath. Had to keep you still, ya know?" Sheikhan gathered it up and then released the restoration magic with his blue buddy.

"We did it." Tiamat breathed a heavy sigh of relief as she watched the sparkles cover the gym and leave to fix the rest of the school. She turned to congratulate her co-heroes on the job well done, when she found them talking to Groose over what happened.

"I, uh...did something embarrassing and Cia blackmailed me into helping her for a really shallow and, all together, short-sighted insignificance." The big guy explained, his whole upper body slumped in his sad mood. "She posted the blackmail material anyway...and said I should've gotten it in print or something to make sure it was legit."

' _Called it on Cia being behind it._ ' Sheikhan Wolf thought while he patted him on the shoulder.

' _That explains my banning from the dance._ ' Athena gently touched Groose's chin so that their eyes met. "While you should have known better than to trust this 'Cia', you can still do the right thing and tell the truth."

Tiamat nodded in agreement. "Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but it is what you do afterwards that shows what you have learned from it."

"Y-Yeah…" Groose thought this over a bit. "Yeah! You're both right." Then he got the heroines in a big bear hug. "Thanks! I'll take your advice and do what I can...tomorrow, first thing!"

Both girls choked out a "You're welcome!" while Sheikhan watched, covering his mouth with both his hands as a few giggles leaked out.

It was during this tender moment that some odd beeping noises were heard.

"Huh? Oh right, the thing." Tiamat looked to the others and found that they also had the same thing happening to them, judging from their facial expressions - slight reluctance from Athena and a mild pout from Wolf. "It looks like we need to get going, unfortunately."

"Alrighty then." Groose set the heroines on their feet and gave all 3 of them a friendly, if heavy, pat on their shoulders. "I'll be heading out too, see ya...at some point, I guess!" And so he ran ahead of them.

' _You have no idea._ ' The three thought as they all parted ways to de-transform in privacy.

* * *

"A DRAGON? THEY HAVE MORE MIRACULOUS STONES AT THE DROP OF A HAT?!" The cave wasn't in the best of shape from all the trident stabs, slashes and stomping around from his outburst. "I WAS SO CLOSE THIS TIME, I COULD TASTE THE WISDOM AND COURAGE! VOLGA WAS ALMOST PERFECT! NO NEED FOR HAND HOLDING OR DEMANDS TO KEEP FOCUSED ON THE TASK!" The fire in the center reflected Boarova's rage as he seethed in fury. "IF THEY HAD NOT FOUND THAT BLASTED FOURTH WIELDER, VICTORY WOULD HAVE BEEN WITHIN MY GRASP!" he exclaimed, once again slamming his trident into the ground. It was only after a few more moments of incessant screaming and wall punching, that he began to take a few deep breaths to calm himself. "Now that I know what that cuckoo and cur are capable of, I'll simply need to tread with a bit more caution in my goals. Perhaps this will work in my favor, after all..." He straightened himself out and exited the area. "This world was made with fire, why not use it to create my new empire as well?"

* * *

Zelda didn't have enough time to fly home. She found that she had to duck into a nearby bathroom and worked on texting Impa to come and get her. She left her school bag at home too, which meant no seeds for Brawynn until Impa came. She groaned a bit as she hid in the handicap stall, her Kwami in her hands as she stroked her little white belly with her thumbs. "A fine mess this is, huh? My friends know I left immediately after school. I just have to hide out here...or something...I'm sorry for making you wait for your food, Brawynn."

"There's been worse to happen to me, my lady."

They both fell silent as they heard the door open.

"I hope these are enough. I sort of had to...grab a little bit of everything in the rush to feed you." It was Hilda! "Proteins, dairy, wheat, various greens, small fruit slices and a little chocolate cake."

Finntan looked over her choices in silent contemplation. A long, long contemplation. "You may have the cake, I care not for sweet things."

Hilda carefully reached over and took the plate of dessert away. She kept her eyes on her Kwami while the choice was being made. "Do you...like...any of this…?"

Finntan focused more on the salad than the other foods before her. With a swift mid-air slither, she dove into the bowl and started throwing out all of the contents, except for the spicy peppers. While Hilda was mildly annoyed that her mish-mash of toppings, which she dubbed the kitchen sink salad, was being ignored, there was some relief in the little dragon finally picking her prefered food. "Right, spicy peppers…"

Brawynn gave a few anxious flaps as she was pretty sure she was smelling a few seeds on the ground now. She wasn't above eating off the floor, but also didn't want to give away that her user was in the same room. She covered her head with her wings and tried to enter a state of meditation as a means to block the need to eat.

At this, Zelda began to take pity on her Kwami and weighed her options. She could either wait for awhile and get seeds from Impa, or possibly let Brawynn eat now by giving her permission to leave the stall. It only took a few more moments and another look at her desperate Kwami to come to a decision. She then slowly and carefully lowered her to the ground, giving her a small nod to proceed with caution and eat her share.

Brawynn gave her a hug on her cheek before zipping out from under the stall and trying to nab some food. She floated over as quickly as possible, so as to not startle Hilda while she tried to get the closest seed she could. On spotting her target, she sped up ever so slightly and began to open her mouth-

"How did you get in here?" Hilda thought she was just some wild bird that mysteriously got into the girl's bathroom. "Was there an open window or something? Silly little bird." She reached out to try and pick up Brawynn.

"My dear, that's no common bird." Finntan peeked over the rim of the bowl. "That is my sister in arms, Brawynn."

"...As in a Kwami?" Hilda asked in a dumbfounded voice.

"Yes." Both Kwamis stated, though Finntan's tone was a bit more blunt.

"A blue...bird...Kwa - Athena's in a stall, isn't she?" Hilda was quick to piece that together.

"...Yes…" Brawynn admitted with reluctance.

"Oh...well, um...Hello, Athena. Again. Maybe this was for the better, you probably need the Miraculous you lent me back? You...only said mission, no implication of staying on the team." She worked on trying to find the little chest she was given before, which she had slipped into her backpack shortly after her transformation.

Zelda gritted her teeth and looked helplessly at the stall wall before her. ' _Should I say something? Could she be able to tell it's me without the transformation? Where's some paper and a pen when you need them!? Wait, what if she gets a good look at my shoes? She might know it's me then! IMPA, WHERE ARE YOU?_ ' In her panic, she checked her phone and rapid texted her after putting it in silent mode.

"Wait." Brawynn perched on Hilda's head. "I had discussed this with her beforehand when we picked Finntan. We believe that it'd be faster to have you keep her instead of reclaiming her Miraculous after every fight."

"She proved herself rather resourceful in battle as well." Finntan added with a grin. "I'd say she's proven herself to bear my earrings full-time."

Hilda stroked Brawynn's head with a beaming smile. "Thank you both. Take what you need then, Brawynn. I won't disturb Athena and I'll leave first."

Brawynn gave her a little hug on her nose and then went back to eating the seeds. After both Kwamis had their fill, Hilda left first as promised and headed home while answering a barrage of text messages from her worried boyfriend. Said boyfriend eventually found her as she waited for her ride home and was showered in anxious affection, he even walked her to the car when it arrived. Once her parents were done worriedly doting on her after coming through the door and Hilda was able to get some alone time in her room, she looked online for anyplace that was holding self-defense classes done with staffs.

Impa came to pick Zelda up and the ride back was pretty quiet.

"Did...anyone notice I was gone?" Zelda asked after a few minutes.

"I found your room was empty, but managed to come up with a convincing enough lie to keep anyone from questioning you."

"What was it?"

"Spa day in your personal tub." Impa had a ghost of a smirk.

"After today, I _could_ use a spa treatment." Zelda chuckled half-heartedly.

"I'll see if I can get a fancy bath bomb for you to use."

"Thank you, Impa."

"And between us, Brawynn enjoys a small bowl of lavender bath salts." Impa added on softly. "I'll get a small bag of that as well while I'm out."

"Thank you, again."

"Anytime."

* * *

Link held his breath as he turned his key and entered his home. He was pretty sure his dad wasn't teaching night classes tonight. He was also fairly sure his mom wasn't done with teaching her choreography class by now. Either way, even just one parent home will result in having to lie about where he was after school. He's read enough graphic novels to know this is typical of a hero, but it still didn't sit well in his gut.

"We're alone." Bleddyn assured as he floated out and started heading to the kitchen.

"How can you tell?" Link questioned, keeping his voice low just in case.

"I'm a wolf-themed, pocket sized deity, you think my ears wouldn't be as keen as a mortal one?" He found some leftover pumpkin pie from a random dessert night some days back and managed to control his desire to one slice. "Wait…" He moved his ears around. "I hear snoring."

"That's dad, then. Must be taking a power nap." Link dug around in the cupboards. "...Think anyone would complain about mac and cheese with hotdogs for dinner?"

Bleddyn just shrugged as he chowed down on his slice.

Link shrugged back and figured to make it later, once his mom was home at least. The good news is that his night went on peacefully, them only asking about school when the subject of the Gufuu that appeared there this afternoon and how he managed to stay away arose. Link only chalked it up to being clever.

* * *

The next morning before classes, Groose confessed that it was him _and_ Cia who did the graffiti deed. It took a bit to show the process how, but he had enough sense (or maybe laziness) to not delete some of the wall pictures he took. Principle Gaebora was a bit disappointed in Groose for letting himself be blackmailed into doing something so childish, but decided to be lenient with him due to his honesty and assigned him to be a part of the planning committee for the upcoming dance, in order to make up for what he had done. He then gave Cia the full brunt of the punishment, which was a harsh scolding and instructions to clean up all of the graffiti that she had forced Groose to create. Cia of course protested this, but Gaebora remained firm and informed her that he could ban her from the dance instead. This caused Cia to immediately cease her complaints and reluctantly agree to the 'harsh' punishment that she had been given. Lastly, Gaebora issued a formal apology to the Callaghan heiress and informed her that she was now more than welcome to attend the upcoming dance with her friends. To this, Zelda cheered and hugged all her friends as she told the good news. She even told and hugged Groose, who had good news of his own: He's really good at building stuff and will be staying on the committee for as long as he can!


End file.
